Can't escape the Magic
by FreedomandDisorder
Summary: Harry moved on to the next great adventure only to find another world waiting for him. And this world has quite a few surprises in store for the boy who lived.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm still working on my LOTR and HP crossover but I just recently became obsessed with Magi and this prompt sort of stemmed from the same place as "A Second Hope" I'm really excited to see where this takes me.**

"-You could for instance hop on a train…" Dumbledore gestured with a wizened hand toward the multitude of the steam trains waiting.

Harry paused "But what about everyone else?"

"My dear boy, the living rarely need help from anyone else."

"So, am I really dead? Wasn't I the chosen one? I thought I was supposed to save everyone."

Albus carded his fingers through his thick snowy beard. "Now Harry, we can't save everyone; we can only love them. As for you being dead, that is a question for someone far wiser than myself."

Harry sighed "Even in my imagination, Dumbledore speaks a lot without saying much."

Harry thought of Ron and Hermione. He thought of Ginny, Neville, and Luna. Of all of D.A. and the Order and the Weasleys. He thought of all the trails they went through and endured together. After a moment of long thought he looked up at his old headmaster.

"Sir, I'm tired."

Albus nodded. "I would be surprised if you were not."

"So if I get on a train. I would "move on" …right? To where?"

"To the next great adventure Mr. Potter. Whatever that entails."

"Thank you sir." Harry nodded respectfully at the old professor as he climbed onto the nearest train.

"Goodbye my dear boy."

Crying? Harry heard the sound of a woman screaming and crying. 'Who's in pain?' He thought. He felt a huge amount of pressure squeezing his body. Squeezing all of him. It was worse than Apparition. Apparition was quick but brutal. This is equally brutal but exhaustingly slow. He felt whatever was surrounding him. It was warm and wet; grossly undulating around him. Harry wiggled to escape this uncomfortable prison. The woman's shrieking increased. Another woman's muffled voice answered.

Harry felt the squeezing tube pressing him forward into open air. He felt the heat of a light on his closed eyelids. He wanted to open them but the wet goo he was covered in glued his eyes shut. Harry felt the rest of his body slide out of the pressured tube he was encased in.

The woman stopped wailing and the sound of feminine cooing began. Harry was lifted and rubbed with a rough rag. Exhaustion weighed him down so he did not even wonder how a grown man could be lifted so easily.

Harry was laid on a soft surface. Warm and smelling oddly of wisteria flowers and sea salt. It was warm and slightly moist with the smell of sweat.

The woman's cooing was right next to his head. "He's beautiful."

Another feminine voice sighed. "Look at that hair! So vibrant. I've only ever seen one man with hair like that!"

"Yes. No denying who his father is." The first woman mumbled. Her voice echoed oddly against Harry's ear.

"What will you do Alania? Will you tell him?"

"No. it won't make a difference. Besides, what king would want a whore's child?"

Harry felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. He realized what happened as he was cradled securely to his new mother's breast.

"Look at him. My precious baby boy." He still couldn't see but he could think of only one thing.

"Great adventure my ass."

Years passed after the disturbing experience of birth and Harry or "Sina" as he was now known lived a fairly ordinary life as he was now. He quickly realized that his mother was a high class prostitute at a very exclusive brothel. As her 4-year-old son, he was treated well by the other women in the building. He often helped around the brothel by doing small jobs. Washing clothes, cleaning bedrooms, and serving drinks to some of the customers.

The only person who seemed to hate him was the owner, Quinmir. He was a large greasy man who reminded him of a nastier Uncle Vernon. He had thick seeping boils on his face and neck and his nails and teeth were a nauseating yellow shade. He thought that Sina was a distraction and brought down the cost of the merchandise (his mother). The fat man often shot a kick out at the young boy when he crossed his path. He even tried to sell Sina once or twice but his mother had always intervened.

The men who visited the brothel were often in awe of how Sina looked. His hair was as short and wild as it had been when he was Harry but now instead of pitch black, his hair was a dark violet. His eyes were still the same vibrant green as his first mother Lily. But many attributed it to his current mother Alania who has soft moss green eyes not as shocking as his own shade but it was similar enough that nobody questioned it. His cheeks were chubby and soft, his skin clear and fair, Sina was self-aware enough to acknowledge that he was a lovely child. But being so lovely was not the best thing to be in a brothel.

Like right now. Alania was with one of her regulars so Quinmir took that opportunity to torment Sina. The young boy often helped the kitchens in the evenings. Customers often stayed so long that they had a meal with their drink and women. He was in charge of peeling potatoes and cleaning dishes and other small jobs easily accomplished by tiny hands.

Quinmir lumbered into the kitchen and yelled "Oi, Purple brat!" he never used anyone's name. Sina wasn't sure if it was to insult people or if he was too stupid to remember. Sina watched as he grabbed a few fruit slices from a nearby dish. Juice dripped from his jaw as he shouted for Sina.

"I'm here." Sina put his potato peeler down and stood just out of the man's reach.

"Good. Come on then I ain't got all night." Quinmir huffed and made his way toward the guest lounge where customers spent time choosing their bed partner.

Sina reluctantly followed the fat man out into the lounge. "Mother said I'm not to go in there."

SLAP!

Sina's cheek flared and Quinmir shook his hand to chase away the sting. "Well I said to follow, so follow stupid purple brat."

Quinmir yanked the back of his shirt collar and dragged him out onto the floor.

Customers paused in their drinking and girls gasped quietly into their hands as the brothel keeper dragged the little boy forward. They came to a stop in front of a man with a bejeweled turban who had a fierce red lipped scowl and mean narrow eyes.

"Here sir, this is the one I told you about." Quinmirs' voice became pitched and sweet.

"I see." The man's hand whipped out and grasped Sina's chin and twisted his face this and that way to examine him. "Interesting colors. Is his mother similar? I might be interested in purchasing her as well."

Quinmir sniffed "If only she did. I would make more money if she did but no, it's from his father as far as I can tell."

The lazily lounging man moved his hand to curl around a thick lock of Sina's hair. "And I'm guessing you don't know who his father is?"

"No. She's a rather popular girl, so there's no way to tell."

"Hmmm alright then. I'll take the boy." The customer handed Quinmir a sack of clinking coins and shifted his grip to Sina's wrist.

"Wait! You can't-you can't buy me!" Sina tugged his arm away from the man's grip but he readjusted his grip and shook the boy as he began dragging the boy out. Sina's throat tightened with fear. He knew slavery and human trafficking existed in this world but he never thought that it could happen to him. He never thought he could be separated from his loving mother.

"No! No! Mother! Mother help me!" Sina yelped as the turbaned man pulled him outside.

Alania came running out of her room. "Sina! My Sina!"

She was stopped by the brothel bouncers who held the sobbing woman back. "No! Stop! My son! Please!"

The sounds of her shrieks and pitiful cries followed Sina and the man out of the brothel.

 **I would really appreciate some reviews you guys!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Some of you asked about Sina's personality. Don't worry that will be explained in later chapters.**

Sina was shoved in the carriage and the man clambered in behind. "Please sir…my mother…"

"Silence. Your mother is gone. Your home is gone. I am the only thing you have left." The man tugged his turban off. Pale silver hair twisted out and fell about his head. "I am Fatima. You will call me Master Fatima."

Sina shivered at the cold eyes the man had. And the sneer on his thin lips.

"Your mother called you Sina, is that your name?"

"Yes sir."

The man stared at the boy. His gaze was hard and disquieting. Sina fidgeted under the hard stare for a moment until it occurred to him what the man wanted. "I mean, yes master Fatima." The man relaxed a bit.

"I see. Where you named after anyone?" "I don't think so."

"I knew a man once with a name like yours. He had violet hair too. Perhaps he was your father." Fatima looked at the passing scenery out of the carriage window.

"Really what was he like? Where is he now? What was his name?"

SLAP!

Master Fatima pulled his hand back. "Silence. Slaves do not ask their masters questions. When we return home you will be punished."

Sina cradled his reddened cheek and curled up into the carriage seat.

"That man was a traitor. He destroyed our home. He destroyed our mother."

"Mother..." Sina's voice died quickly as Fatima's hand twitched.

The carriage was silent for a long time. After a long uncomfortable time, the carriage stopped. Fatima left the carriage first and let another younger man pull Sina out.

"Take him to the punishment rooms." Fatima called over his shoulder to the teen holding Sina's hand. His eyes dismissed the boy like he was nothing.

The teen slave carried Sina in his arms as he walked down a long set of stairs into a basement like area. It was a huge cavern with a high large ceiling. The teens footsteps echoed as he walked down the long hallway. They passed thick metal doorways. The teen went down the line of door and stopped in front of a particularly dingy one.

Sina was placed in a stone room with only a single window high above his head. The floor was filled with water that skimmed over Sina's ankles.

The walls were covered with thick scratches and small bloody fingernails were embedded in the stonework. The teen slave that carried him inside latched a thick metal collar around his neck. He wore a similar collar but it was in much better condition than the scratched metal now around his neck. Water lapped around their ankles as the older boy looped a long chain through the ring on the collar and hung it on a hook high above Sina's head.

"What's your name?" Sina asked the teen. His eyes searched upwards to connect with the teenaged boys. "Shush. Punished slaves don't deserve to be talked to." The blue eyed teen hissed. He yanked on the chain and it jerked Sina up as he splashed out of the room. The door slammed shut behind him.

Sina was left in that overwhelming darkness.

The chain kept him away from the door and it was pitch dark inside the tiny cell. The water was cool. Sina amused himself for a while splashing in the cool liquid.

Hours passed and Sina began shivering. His teeth chattered and clicked together. "Hey! I'm v-very cold. Please let me out!" Sina heard nothing from beyond the door. He was alone in the dark.

In the dark cell there was no way to tell time. Sina was confused on if he had been standing in the frozen water for hours or days. He tried clinging to the chain tying him to the wall but he could only hold himself up for so long.

The chain was rough and cut deeply into his palms. Blood welled up from his hands and for a while all he could feel was the heat of his body seep out of his wounds and drip steadily into the cold water.

He felt the walls close in around him. Exhaustion dragged Sina down until he was huddled against the cold wall and left shuddering in the rippling water.

Then the hallucinations started.

Sina thought he heard muffled hissing from beyond the wall. He slammed his eyes shut fearing the basilisk was coming for him. He whimpered as the cold water curled around his ankles like thousands writhing wiggling snakes.

He ceased his sobbing and shouts for help.

Soon he stopped shivering altogether. The young boy laid quietly in the water as he felt the life seep from his body and heat from his bones.

'Was this the next great adventure? To die for no reason? Before I accomplished anything? I wanted to do more with my life. I wanted to live longer this time.'

Sina closed his eyes and could only faintly hope that he would open them again.

Boom! Second chapter done! Did anyone catch the


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm not sure how popular this crossover will be. Harry Potter/Magi fics seem to be pretty scarce. I hope this one is palatable. The way just the Fatima arc is playing out I might have to up the rating. What do you guys think?**

Fatima enjoyed the pitter patter of nervous feet as his slaves darted about trying to fill his every whim. The bright glitter from their collars awoke a smug pleasure in the man. The own pale revealed skin of his throat delighted him even more as he watches these sub-humans cater to his desires with the thick metal rings encircling their own easily wrung necks.

Fatima gazed happily at his reflection. Pale skin, shining hair, and strong dazzling eyes. He used thick lotions to soften his hands from their former rough state. Only the highest quality fabrics would deign to touch his flesh. And only the sweetest wine would be permitted to pass his perfect lips.

'I am marvelous.' He thought. He watched his house slaves tidy up his chambers from his mirror. He saw how their eyes couldn't help but dart and gaze at his beauty. He saw their hands tremble as they beheld his magnificence. As worshipers might trembled before their god.

He truly was the finest being alive. All that he strove to be since he first heard of _Her_ fall from grace. He once believed that she was the most perfect being alive. He worked himself tirelessly to please her. To have her glance happily in his direction would have made him grin for days. But she cast him aside. She made the mistake of sending him away. Of replacing him with that…that _**traitor**_. She abandoned him and collapsed from perfection. She entrusted that hateful cur with his position and lost all that she had created.

She had once been Fatima's God. But she allowed a demon of a man to stab her in the back.

Fatima was not so foolish as she was. He was stronger and wiser. He knew the hearts of his slaves because in his own hateful past he was one of them. He understood just how far he could push until they broke. And he knew how beautiful they could be when they shattered beyond repair. Right before he reformed them to his own purpose.

And speaking of shattering, he had a new little project cooling downstairs didn't he? Oh the glee he felt when he had first laid eyes on the little kitten. With those wide green eyes alone he would have made a fine slave. Fitting to sell to a pampered noble with…those… tastes. But Fatima wouldn't do that now. No. the instant he saw that nest of hair. The same shade as that demon that destroyed his God. His lady. His _**mother!**_

No, the demons spawn will not be sold to the highest bidder. It would be poetic justice to have the purple pet right by his side. No…at his feet. Where all pets deserve to be. Part of Fatima wished he could show the beast that set his world aflame just what would become of his creation. But he would have to settle for enjoying the revenge passively.

A being so incredible as him wasn't so foolish as to spit right at a king. Even a demonic one.

Harry was surprised when he awoke from his freezing slumber. He truly thought he was going to die. But now he was bundled in a soft blanket in front of a roaring fire. Warmth sank into his bones and curled contently around his center.

Fatima was sitting nearby sipping from a golden goblet. The chair he was sitting in surrounded him like a throne with its plush red covering and bright golden edges. The light of the fire made his hair shine and his red lips shimmer. He looked like a king or a god.

Sina blinked and realized what was happening. 'this is some form of torture-brainwashing. He purposely put himself there so he'd look good. To a slave who just shivered halfway to hell, waking up warm and cozy would leave them vulnerable to something like hero worship. I read about this in one of Dudleys old war practices book Aunt Petunia threw out. She thought it was too disturbing.'

The boy stared at the slave master and almost snorted at the covert expectant gleam in his eyes. 'He is expecting a sheltered little boy, easy to break and easier to mold. But I'm not a sheltered child. I'm Harry Potter. I'm a soldier of Dumbledore's Army, a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and the Boy-Who-Freakin'-Lived!'

Oh how he hated that title in his past life, but now he clung to it. He had allowed himself to forget. To slide into the easy existence of Sina-the whores' son. To be lax in his own life. He should have taken Quinmir's' attempts to sell him more seriously; but he let himself assume his mother would always be there to protect him. Now she is gone and he must defend himself. Luckily Fatima didn't realise who he was dealing with. Perhaps he could convince him he was broken. If he was treated like any other slave his chances of escaping were much better than if he was in 'punishment'. Sina took a breath and allowed that deeply sheltered Slytherin part of himself creep forward to manipulate Fatima.

"Master Fatima…" he let his voice be hoarse and quiet in an attempt to get a rise of pity from the narrow eyed man.

"Yes little one?" Fatima's' voice was smooth and he leaned in close, his breath smelling of fine wine.

"I don't want to be cold anymore. Can I be your slave now? I mean- I want to be your slave now." Sina let a small flinch escape after his question subtly showing Fatima that he remembered that 'Slaves do not ask questions'.

"You want to serve me? Or do you just not want to be cold?" Fatima's' red smile widened.

Sina realized that Fatima was testing him, baiting him. He wanted to throw Sina back into that awful cell.

'Shit' Sina hated that vindictive gleam in the man's eyes. 'He hates me.' Sina recalled what Fatima said about his father and inwardly winced. 'Probably because of who he is. Damn, it's like Snape and Uncle Vernon rolled into one. How am I going to deal with this?'

Sina felt his stomach clench in fear. But the reincarnated wizard steeled himself gave Fatima's challenge the best he had.

"I'm not sure I understand Master Fatima. I really don't want to be cold again, but if I serve you, you'll keep me warm. Right?" Sina used a trick that the girls at the brothel used to catch coin stingy customers. He ducked his head down and glanced up at the man through his dark thick lashes.

Fatima stared deep into the large green eyes of the small boy before him. The room was quiet as the firelight flickered over the two males.

Then Sina had to duck out of the way as Fatima's cup came flying at him. Wine splashed all over him.

"Master Fatima?"

"Shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP! Shut your mouth you little beast!" Fatima wrapped his fingers tightly in Sina's hair. His long nails scraped bloody gouges into his scalp and strands of violet were yanked out by the root. Sina was dragged out from the warm blankets as Fatima jerked his head around

"You! You're just like him! Just as conceited as he was! I'll fix you! I'll fix you, you little bastard!" Fatima's voice pitched and cracked with fury.

Sina instinctively reached for his head. Trying to ease the agonizing pain. Fatima managed to catch one of his flailing limbs.

"You! I was going to be kind to you! I was going to be easy on you! But you try to lie to ME?! You try to deceive ME?! The one who saved you from a life in a brothel? The one who welcomed you into my service despite your whore mother and demon father? I'll fix you! You little cur! You little devil!"

Fatima's eyes glowed with hellfire. He looked to be the demon he shrieked Sina was. His eyes flitted around the room, looking for a weapon to punish the child with.

His eyes caught the flicker of the fire.

For one second the man was still. Then he fell in front of the hearth with a malevolent cackle. His large hand tugged Sina next to him.

Sina quickly realized his plan. "No! No Master Fatima! Please! Stop! Stop it please!"

But his pleas were for naught. Fatima pulled Sina's hand in front of him and despite the frantic struggles of the four-year-old boy, he pressed his hand onto the burning coals at the very front of the fire grate.

The blue eyed slave outside the room flinched as the most bloodcurdling cry he ever heard erupted from inside.

 **Ok so that was…nauseating. I don't know what it is but I guess I just enjoy Harry suffering in my fics. It makes the end reward so much sweeter. I still feel really bad for him though.**

 **If you haven't read the manga about young Sinbads adventures you are missing out. And that's where I'm going to get a lot of my stuff from that.**

 **Please review so I know where to correct. Critic me, compliment me, inspire me with your glittering ideas and opinions.**

 **Look theres a review button. It wants you to click it. Click it…do it….**


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow you guys are totally merciless in your reviews. Be kind you guys' cracker and cheeses. Its going to be a long fic so It's a little slow in the beginning. I'm setting up the hurt before the comfort can come in. Just settle in and be patient.**

Many months later Sina lay on his cot in the healing room. He stared at the stone ceiling above him. Nearby a female slave set about cleaning a shelf of potions and vials. Sina made sure not to speak to the woman. He learned that the slaves Fatima had were extremely loyal (or to afraid) to go against him. He knew that anything he said to them would be reported back to Fatima.

The woman left Sina alone. And he thought. He thought for hours

He thought of Hogwarts. The cool feel of the stone walls beneath his hand, the warm glow of the fire in Gryffindor common room, the splendor of the Great Hall.

He thought of Lily and James Potter. He thought of Sirius and Remus and everyone else he loved. He thought of Hermione and her cleverness. He thought of Ron and his bravery. Fred and Georges' laugh. Ginny's determination, Neville's' kindness, Luna's wistfulness, and even Draco's snarky quips.

His memories were the only thing that held him from breaking like Fatima wanted. If he was four year old Sina he would have broken a long time ago. He would have shattered like crystal thrown against the hard ground. But he wasn't a four year old. He was a wizard. He was the youngest seeker in a century. He was the unwilling champion of the Triwizard tournament. He was the discoverer of the chamber of secrets. The slayer of Slytherins' monster. He was a grown man. He survived the worst dark wizard in living memory. He fought at the battle of Hogwarts. He DIED at the battle of Hogwarts.

He wouldn't let Fatima take his independence the way he took all the other slaves'. He wouldn't break for Voldemort so like hell a man like Fatima would win against him. He felt every wound Fatima gave him or commanded he be given and it gave him strength. He felt the icy cold of that first cell, the burning of the fire, the pull of the coarse chains, the sting of each lash of his whip and it fortified his determination. He was the boy who lived. And he would survive this too.

Sina stared at his scarred hand and mostly bandaged body. He felt the deep ache from the burn Fatima gave him and the many other wounds he received. The medicine in this life was severely lacking compared to the easy solutions that Madam Pomphrey always provided. He always scarred after Fatima's punishments.

He tried to feel his magic many times before but he always failed. It just wasn't the same. He knew that he was being reborn into a different life but some part of him wanted to retain his magic. The thing that made him 'important' the part of him that was special and set him apart from others.

But the warm magical core that existed within him as Harry Potter was notably absent in Sina. It felt like he was missing a limb he had never noticed before, not until it was gone.

He never noticed the small glowing birds fluttering about him. Or the slow power coiling in his veins preparing and waiting.

Sina allowed himself to rest quietly on the cot. Sunlight filtered in from outside. The window was so very close. The urge to leap out of it to freedom nearly overwhelmed him. But Sina knew that a guard would be standing within eyesight and he would be caught and punished for escaping again. So he laid on his hard cot and shut his eyes against the sun.

"Hello little kitten. Have you learned your lesson yet?" Fatima waltzed in gleefully.

"Master Fatima…" Sina didn't bother to say anymore. He learned that his attempts at garnering pity or any sort of merciful behavior from Fatima was as productive as wringing water from a stone.

"Never mind, Nakht." The slave master called out waving a well-groomed hand casually.

A small dark-skinned slave boy came into the room. His hair was long and pulled back in a tight snowy braid. He was in typical tan slave clothes. His collar was thick and laid heavily on his thin collarbone. He looked exceedingly delicate.

"Yes Master Fatima." The boys voice was soft and quiet. His copper eyes were dull.

"Prepare Sina for our trip to the stadium. I need to restock my supplies."

"As you wish, Master Fatima. It will be done."

"Good." The master strode confidently out of the room.

Nakht kept his eyes down until the man was gone. Then he set about pulling Sina from his cot and dragging him from the room.

"where are we going?" Sina tiredly asked, not expecting an answer.

"The stadium." Nakht's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.

Sina blinked in surprise. This was the first time another slave answered any of his questions.

"What happens at the stadium?"

"…very bad things."

"But what-"before Sina could finish his question, Nakht pushed him into the back of a caravan. It was filled with empty crates piled to the covered tarp ceiling.

"We sit here. No talking." Nakht pulled his knees in close and sat in the tight space with Sina. The crates pressed around them as the caravan line began moving.

The slave at the front of the wagon hummed lowly under his breath. It was a soft dancing tune that passed the time. The line left the oasis city behind slowly with Master Fatima's carriage leading the way.

Sand filled the horizon endlessly.

Sina felt sweat pour like rivers from him. The sun overhead was merciless as it bore down on the helpless caravan. Despite the tarp over the top of the wagon, Sina was still beaten down by the overwhelming heat. Meanwhile Nakht sat next to him calmly twiddling his fingers. Sina slumped onto the floor of the wagon. The wooden planks did little to ease his suffering.

'England and Scotland never experienced a heat wave like this!' he thought miserably. He thought longingly of the snowy winters that encompassed Hogwarts in December. Of the icy snow drifts and glittering ice sickles.

But just as his memories were about to carry him to a peaceful snowy dream, a gust of wind blew a handful of gritty sand into his eyes and nose.

"Errk! Gross!" he spat the particles out of his mouth. Nakht was quiet but he still gave a little huff of amusement at his situation.

"It's not fair. Why am I sweating like there's no tomorrow but you're just as fine as can be?" Sina grumbled rhetorically.

"My hair is white." Nakht surprisingly answered. "Your hair is darker. People with darker hair get hotter in the sun."

"oh…right. Ok. Well what do I do about that. I'm dying in this heat." Sina peered up from his prone position on the wagon floor.

Nakht had almond shaped copper eyes. And they stared into Sina's own green pair for a long moment. Then the slave boy nodded at some internal thought and scurried to the front of the cart. "Wait."

Sina twisted his head to see Nakht speaking quietly to cart driver who nodded and let Nakht rummage around in a small sack he had behind the driver's seat.

Nakht came back with a piece of dingy off white cloth in his grip. "Sit up." He pulled Sina into a sitting position and arranged the fabric on his head. It was like a thin scarf over his scalp. Nakht secured the fabric with a thin cord.

The scrap of material hung over Sina's head and shielded him from the harsh rays of the sun. slowly his core temperature cooled as the caravan trudged on.

Hours passed as the two boys chatted quietly in the back of the wagon. The two didn't have to terribly much in common but Sina found Nakht to be a pleasant enough boy. Not as clever as Hermione, Not as Strategic as Ron.

Sina mentally shook his head. It wasn't fair for him to compare Nakht to Ron and Hermione. He went through a war with those two. He survived so much more than just war with those two at his side. But Nakht was here now. Ron and Hermione were gone. They were living their life in that world he left behind.

If Nakht noticed his pensive thoughts he showed no sign.

The long ride into the desert was much easier with Nakht by his side. They spent the time quietly.

"Where are you from Nakht?"

"My village was called Maedir. That's where I was born. My mother was a maid in a nobles home. She came from Dark Continent."

"What's the Dark Continent?" Sina wondered subtly poking for more information.

"It's an unexplored region where the Fanalis slaves come from." Nakht had a pleased flush on his cheeks. It seemed the dark skinned boy liked teaching others even small things.

"Are you a Fanalis slave?" Sina counted on the happy expression on Nakhts face. It was obvious that the other boy was unused to smiling. Even the small smile that twisted his lips now.

"No. the Fanalis have red hair and eyes. They are the strongest people in the world. But they were all taken as slaves by the Reim empire. Now there aren't very many left at all."

"That's very sad." Sina felt a stirring of empathy for the strong people of the Dark Continent. He could remember that the purebloods hated the muggles for being different. This was a bit of the same thing. Not exactly the same but enough that he could understand.

The caravan slowed as a grouping of rocks came ahead. Fatima's carriage veered off and entered the rock canyon as the caravan pushed on.

"Where is master Fatima going?" Sina asked

"There are bandits living in those rocks. Fatima wants to hire them."

"Hire them? I thought he took slaves?"

"These bandits have been attacking merchant caravans that pass through the road. Master Fatima wants them to collect slaves from the bands they attack." Nakht was used to Fatima's tactics in this business.

"Where are we going?"

"The stadium cages. It's where Master Fatima holds the great animals he sells to gladiator matches." Nakht looked tense for a moment. "while we are there…don't make Master Fatima mad."

"Ok." Sina took Nakhts' word for it. He knew Fatima's habits better than Sina.

The Stadium was another large outcropping of rocks. The wagon slowed and Nakht pulled Sina inside the hollowed out cavern into a small storage room.

It was filled with shelves upon shelves of chains and collars.

"Grab a bag. We have to fill it." Nakht had Sina hold the bag as he dumped the thick chains in.

"…" Sina let Nakht pull him to this job and that job.

The next day wore on and the two boys were given tasks by older slaves and various henchmen of Fatima.

They were stirring gruel in the kitchen when word of Fatima's return reached them. The various adult slaves that darted in and out of the kitchens carried the gossip that followed the new slaves that he brought with him.

"Over fifty adults. Only a few kids."

"did you see the bodies they brought back. Couldn't even tell they were human."

"Gruesome."

"Did you see the Fanilis Master Fatima caught?"

"She's so small. I don't see what all the fuss is about."

"A Fanalis is strong no matter how big they are. And Reim is paying fortunes for any Fanalis slave they can get their hands on."

These whispers followed Nakht and Sina as the two carried trays of gruel to the slave cells for the new slaves.

There were crowds of people crying behind the prison bars. Some were straining against the thick bars worked into the stone cave, some were twisting the chains that bound them, but most were just holding those close to them and cried.

"We have supper." One of the henchmen Fatima hired to keep his slaves in line called out. "You maggots better not give me trouble."

He unlocked the gate for a moment and shoved Sina and Nakht inside. "Pass around the food. Make sure no one keeps the bowls or nothing." He ordered.

Sina knew that if any of the prisoners tried to take him or Nakht hostage the henchmen would let them die. He and Nakht were the youngest and least valuable of Fatimas' collection. Huffily he began passing the thin gruel around to the imprisoned people.

Nakht had to bat the trembling hands of a woman off his arm. "M-my daughter…please. Do you know where she is?" the boy determinedly ignored the weeping mother.

Sina turned away from the now wailing adult. Her husband (he guessed or just a kind stranger) wrapped her in his arms. He gave a another small bowl to the next person in front of him.

"Hey." A young happy voice called out to him. "Can I have some of that?" it was odd to hear such an unconcerned voice in this kind of place. Sina turned to see who was speaking to him.

It was a young blue haired boy with wide eyes. "Hi I'm Aladdin. Who're you?"

 **As cruel as the last few reviews have been I still updated. But my feelings are delicate you guys so go easy ok? And if you don't like the fic than keep it to yourself. I write mostly for my own enjoyment so stop being bullies kay? There's a difference between "This part of your fic bothered me because of so and so reason" and "I hate this fic. You suck."**

 **Be kind in your reviews.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Aww! I got some sweet reviews this time! I'm giddy with happiness you guys! Absolutely Giddy! I'm giving this quick update to Yellowie17 and PappyOldGuy! You two are so sweet!**

"Hi, I'm Aladdin. Who're you?" The kid had a ridicules long blue braid and an even more ridicules smile.

"…Sina, uh…Do you know where you are?"

"Not really. Some really strong men came and brought us here. Where are we anyway?"

Sina raised an eyebrow at the oblivious boy. "You're in Fa- I mean Master Fatima's slave cells. You're going to be a slave." Sina couldn't believe that anyone could be so oblivious. Even after Sina told him his future the kid was still smiling.

"Are you a slave? My friend Mor used to be a slave but she's free now." His voice was carefree and upbeat.

"Free?" Sina felt his face become flat. Sliding into that same dull mindset that shielded him from Fatima's harsher punishments. The days in the cold cell, the weeks that Fatima had him tied up and blindfolded left alone in the dark helpless and afraid. The worst of Fatima's punishments were always mental rather than physical. Any attempt Sina gave at freedom was cruelly dealt with until even the word invoked terror in him.

Aladdin could see the light behind the smaller boys' eyes fade. His blue eyes squinted in concern. "Are you Ok?"

Sina fought to come back from behind his mental walls. But he was left in the quiet of his mind. Swimming in an ocean of emotions and memories.

Nakht suddenly appeared by Sina's side. He put his hand on Sina's arm to get his attention. "Sina. I have all the bowls. Let's go." He shot a stern look at the kneeling Aladdin before leading Sina out of the cells. The passed the guard who was fiddling with his knife and casting eager glances toward the prisoners.

They carried the dinner bowls down the hall. "Get a hold of yourself." Nakht murmured concerned for his friend. "We have to serve Master Fatima's dinner now."

The two boys left the dirty dishes with a female slave Nakht called "Leia". She had thin mousy hair piled on her head and a narrow face. But her eyes were kind as she took the dishes from them. "thank you boys."

Nakht passed a tray to Sina that was filled with fresh fruit and thickly cut meat. Nakht carried a golden pitcher filled with sweet wine. "Let's hurry. We don't want to be late." Nakht led the way to Fatima's private chambers.

Fatima never spared the coin on luxury. His rooms were lavish to the extreme. A full bed covered with plump pillows and shimmering silk sheets. One wall was covered entirely by a huge glittering mirror.

Fatima was reclining at his desk writing on some documents. He turned when he heard the boys enter his room. "Ah. Nakht, Sina. There you are," He shuffled some scrolls to the side. "Place my dinner here."

His beady eyes watched them as the two boys obeyed. "Sina," his voice was painfully sweet, like congealed sugar water. "have you been behaving?"

Sina kept his face turned downward but he made sure Fatima stayed firmly in his peripheral vision. "Yes Master Fatima. Nakht has been teaching me what to do."

"Good. Good boy Nakht, I knew I could count on you." Fatimas' large hand patted Nakht on the head ignoring the flinch the white haired boy gave when he did.

"I try my best for you Master. As is my duty." He kept his voice soft and his eyes down.

"What a sweet boy. And Sina what an interesting head piece you have on. Did Nakht give it to you?"

Sina hesitated. It was difficult to predict Fatima's reactions on the best of days. What if he punished Nakht? What if he lied and was found out? What should he do?

The boy took a shallow breath. "He did Master. The sun is very hot and it isn't suitable for anyone to slack off because of exhaustion. Nakht said it would be shameful if we presented anything less than perfection to you Master." Hopefully the not too subtle boot kissing would work.

The quiet of the room was stifling as Fatima contemplated his words. Suddenly the silver haired man smiled. "What good boys you two are! Sina, if I knew that a mentor was all you needed to curb that attitude of yours, I would have put you boys together sooner!" his smile made Sina want to retch, but he held himself and presented a swift bow. Nakht copied him.

"We shall leave you to enjoy your meal Master."

"Very well, go now." Fatima dismissed them.

In the hallway Nakht let out a relieved breath. "Thank Solomon he's in a good mood. It must be because of that Fanalis he caught."

"Do you think?" Sina wondered quietly as they trotted back to the slave barracks.

"No doubt. He was practically singing with joy. He didn't even throw a slap or a kick at us on our way out. He's definitely pleased."

"I wonder what they're like." Sina absently wondered.

"Who?" Nakht opened the door to the barracks.

This room was for child slaves and they were the only two brought out to the stadium this time. So the boys had the small room to themselves thankfully. They each got a rug to sleep on and a thin cover but there was only one pillow so they traded each night. Nakht tossed the small pillow onto Sina's rug an began undoing the tight braid that held his hair back. Sina grabbed a rag and a chipped bowl of water and began washing the grime off his body.

"The Fanalis. You said they were strong right? I wonder how Fatima caught them."

Nakht pursed his lips as the thought about it. "I don't know. But I heard Leia saying which cell they locked the Fanalis in. we could go look at them."

Sina cast a happy look at his friend. "Really now? Let's do it!"

The two boys quietly crept out of their room. And with Nakht leading the way they searched out the mysterious Fanalis captive.

 **Ok so Morgiana is in the Next Chapter! If you've seen the anime I'm sure you can guess what's going to happen next! This is going to be so much fun!**


	6. Chapter 6

**New Chapter! We are officially in the show ya'll! How exciting is that!? Leave a review on the bottom let me know what you think!**

The two boys tip toed their way down the dark cavern hallway toward the cell. Nakht cast darting glances at every intercrossing hallway. "If we get caught. Master Fatima will beat us senseless."

The cell was set with a thick door and a thicker lock. Water dripped from the ceiling and the air was stifling and cold. There was a small window crossed with bars set inside the door. It hovered over both of their heads.

"This is the door." Nakht proudly announced gesturing grandly to the door. Sina tilted his head up at the high set window.

"How do we get inside?"

Nakht blanched. "Inside? We can't get inside. If we open the door the Fanalis might attack us!"

"Really? Well can we find a way to look inside?" Sina crossed his arms. "If we're just going to look at a door then we could have stayed in our room."

Nakht huffed at Sina's bratty tone. "Hold on we can peek in with this." He dragged a stool over and Sina hopped up.

He strained to peer over the sill far above his head. The torch from the hallway gave an orange glow through the corridor but failed to pierce the darkness of the cell. It was a stiff blackness, but as Sina stared he could see the barest flash of red in the cavern. "It's too dark. I can't see anything," Sina whispered "you try."

Nakht took the stool and used the bars in the window to lift himself higher. His dark feet dangled over the stool as he pressed his face against the window. "It's so dark." Nakht murmured.

"Who is there?" a voice erupted from the darkness

"Whoa!" Nakht leapt back overturning the stool and tumbling to the floor.

"Hello?" the voice called again. A hand reached from the darkness to grasp the window bar.

"A girl?" Nakht squeaked from the floor in disbelief.

The torch in the hall brought the voices owner in into relief as they put their face in the window.

It was a girl.

She had a heart shaped face with slanted dew pink eyes pinched against the firelight. Her bright hair glowed in the dim firelight. "Who are you?" she asked. Her voice sounded tight and low. Sina couldn't help but stare at her colorful hair. Even his own purple locks weren't as vibrant as the shining red she sported. She was pretty in an exotic way.

"I am Sina, this is my friend Nakht. We uh…we wanted to see the Fanalis Master Fatima caught." Sina stepped back and pulled Nakht to stand just behind him.

The pre-teen girl looked down at them. "Are you slaves?" she asked. "Do you know how to escape? A way out?"

Sina opened his mouth only to have Nakht hissed. "We can't go against Master Fatima! He'll kill us! Sina we shouldn't talk to her. You'll only get punished, and me along with you!" the dark boy gripped Sina's tattered sleeve. Tears welled up in his copper orbs and he began shaking. "I-I don't want to die Sina…Not like the others." he sniffed.

Sina looped an arm around his tiny friends' shoulders. "You're not going to die Nakht. I'm not gonna let you die." He rocked the sobbing boy in his arms. He let the snowy haired boy sniffle against his shoulder and tried not to grimace as he felt him leak tears and snot all over him.

The girl in the window sighed. "You're a good friend."

"Thank you." Sina locked eyes with her. "You're going to be a slave." He said stoically. She scowled down at him. "No I'm not. I'm going to escape. We all are. I'm not a slave anymore!" her voice was low but emotional.

Sina sighed. "I thought so too. About escape. But Fa- Master Fatima is clever. He's not only clever, he's cruel. If you try to escape, he will hurt you." Sina reached up to show her the molted skin on his palm.

"I made him mad and he burned me. Don't make him mad please."

Her eyes looked stricken and sad. "I can't be a slave again. I won't"

"I'm sorry. I have to get Nakht to bed." Sina turned away.

As he nudged his despondent friend down the hall he hears the girl whispered "I'm not a slave…"

Sina tried not to wince at his own manipulation. Either way he realized he did effect that girl in a big way. He either pushed her resolve to escape even deeper into her heart or added to the burden that would break her spirit. 'Not like it matters' he thought. His only concern right now was Nakht. As a slave he didn't have much. 'I can't let them take my friend too.'

The next morning Sina and a puffy eyed Nakht were carrying bowls of steaming gruel to the prisoner cells. The same boy from the day before smiled at Sina. "Good morning! Do you feel better today?"

Sina cast a weary glance at the boy. "Yes."

The boy continued to smile easily at the shorter boy. "Are you a slave then?"

"…Yes." The response tasted ashy on his tongue. His pride as a Gryffindor roared in indignity.

"Where you caught by bandits too?" Aladdin tilted his head.

"No. I was sold by my mother's boss."

"Why?"

"I made it hard for her to work." Sina shrugged. That and Quinmir hated him for some unfathomable reason. But that was better left unsaid.

"What did your mother do?"

"She was a prostitute in an upscale brothel." A part of Sina still felt a smidgen of shame when he announced this. Undoubtedly it was his former British sensibilities quaking.

"You mean one of those pretty ladies in the red light district?!"

"…yeah…" the blue haired boy turned a brilliant shade of pink and a perverted grin etched itself over his face. Sina slowly retreated from the blushing blunette. Nakht joined him outside the cage.

"Strange boy."

"Yeah."

The kitchen was in the uproar. Frightened slaves darted back and forth. "What's wrong Leia?" Nakht asked the pale woman. Her bony hands trembled. "We ran out of meat for the desert hyenas."

"Oh no!" Nakht stiffened.

"What?" Sina looked at the two frightened slaves.

Nakht twisted to look at him. "We really can't upset Master Fatima today."

"Why?"

"He'll feed us to the hyenas if we do." "That's awful!" Nakht nodded at Sina's gasp. "Let's just keep our heads down Sina…please?" Nakht's eyes were shiny again. The taller boy knew that Sina was a 'problem slave' and that any of his failings would also affect Nakht. Not to mention it would break him terribly if he lost his best friend. Sina felt his saving people thing (as Hermione coined it.) swell to encompass his overly emotional friend Nakht.

"Okay. Okay let's keep our heads down." His Gryffindor pride would balk and retch at the injustice but Sina knew that there was a time and place for pride and bravery and a time and place for stillness and planning.

"That girl that was with the Fanalis is sick," a passing slave gossiped. "Master will probably use her to feed the hyenas."

"Better her than me." Another whispered relieved.

The kitchen was a jumble of noise as the two young boys washed that morning's dishes.

Suddenly utter quiet reigned. Sina looked up at the sudden silence. A hefty ugly bandit grunt was blocking the door. His beady eyes scanned the room. "Boss wants the littlest boys Sina and Nakht he said."

Nakht dropped the dish he was scrubbing the clatter echoed in the crowded room. His whole body shuddered and salty tracks wetted his cheeks. "Let's go Nakht." Sina pulled him up. "We can't keep master Fatima waiting."

The bandit grunted and led the way. As they walked down the hallway, Sina peered at Nakht from the corner of his eye. He was trembling and tears dripped from his chin. Sina subtly pressed his hand into Nakht's. Metallic eyes darted to him. "It'll be okay." Sina mouthed silently. "Okay." Nakht lipped back.

Sunlight greeted them as the grunt led them to the open area of the stadium.

Fatima was posturing on the edge he held a thick rope in his hand. The pink haired girl from last night was being held down by some of the random bandits that Fatima hired.

"Sina and little Nakht!" Fatima's honeyed voice was shrill and grating. "My good little boys! I'm so glad you could join us."

The Fanalis on the ground was thrashing and casting desperate looks to the center of the arena. Sina followed her line of sight and nearly swallowed his tongue.

A little girl probably no older than three or four was tied up and dangling from a scaffold. Nakht gave a strangled gasp in the back of his throat. At Fatima's narrowed eyes he quickly passed it off as a hiccup.

"Master Fatima…you called for us sir?" Sina knew better than to look directly in Fatima's eyes. He realized many months ago that his eyes were too expressive, and that was how Fatima always knew he was faking humility. Making improper eye contact led to far too many punishments.

"Yes my dear pets. I wanted you to see the show. Now, I know Nakht has already seen a few of my little dinner theaters but you haven't had the chance Sina." A finely manicured hand tugged him to Fatima's side. His sharp nails dug into his shoulder and Sina winced. Fatima leaned down and cruelly hissed in Sina's ear. "I want you to see what happens when you displease me pet."

And he loosened his grip on the rope.

 **Chapter six is done! I would really like some reviews over here you guys! Shameless begging happening downtown! Review are the life blood of the author! My muse! My motivation! My very air and heart!**

 **Nourish me with your words my beloved readers! I give you another chapter even earlier than I planned!**

 **Wanna make a deal? If we can get over 50 reviews by Friday night (9/9/16) I'll post a new super long chapter by Saturday evening!**

 **Does that sound fair? I'm literally paying you for reviews! Come On!**

 **And real reviews not just "Good story! Please update!" Opinions and ideas! How should Sina meet his father? Should I kill off Nakht? What about his magic?! Keep or leave out? Or should I make Sina a magi? A student at Magnoshetat? Give me ideas!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sadly, we didn't make it to 50 reviews so this chapter is a whole lot shorter than promised. But because I was so prepared to give you a super long chapter, I have a bunch of little chapters I can break up for you so I can update faster. So there's an upside at least.**

The little girl shrieked as she was slightly dropped. Hyenas danced around the scaffold she was tied to. The Fanalis girl screamed "Stop it NOW!" she wrenched her feet loose of the bandit's grip and slammed the thick chains against the ground.

"It's no use." Fatima cooed "I mean; those shackles _are_ custom made after all." The girl thrashed violently until she slumped against the ground exhausted and miserable. Her eyes were dim with misery.

Fatima gleefully cowed. "In my line of work we don't waste medicine on such low quality slaves. Isn't it better if they're useful in other ways?" He laughed as he loosed more rope. The Hyenas were nipping at her toes now.

"Master!" Sina cried. He couldn't stand this level of depravity. "Please, Sir!?" tiny hands gripped Fatima's linen pants. Fatima grinned cruelly down. "Yes little Sina? Do you have something to say to your master?"

"She…She's so little master." Sina's' voice was watery. The girl on the ground locked her gaze on him in wonder.

"Are you questioning your master?"

"N-!" SLAP!

Sina was wrenched around to face the stadium arena. Fatima gestured for a grunt to hold him there. "You will watch this pet. And while you do I want you to understand that if you continue to be so rebellious it will be you on the rope next or…"

Fatima spun and caught Nakht in his grip.

"Ah! Master!" Nakht's voice trembled and his knees gave out so that Fatima was holding him up by his cruelly wrenched shoulder. Tears leaked from him as the white haired boy sobbed in total fear.

"You were right Sina-pet. That girl is small. She wouldn't fill the gut of my runtiest hyena." The master had a manic gleam in his eye as he tugged Nakht to the edge. The little boy cried out as his shoulder gave a loud popping noise. Sina could tell it was grossly dislocated.

"No master! Please!" Nakht sobbed

"Stop it!" the red head girl screamed from the ground.

"You can't! you can't, No!" Sina shrieked hysterically as he thrashed against the grinning bandits hold.

"You find that I can do whatever I want to _my_ property."

And with that Nakht was shoved off the edge.

"NOOOOoooOooOooooOOOO!" Sina's scream echoed around the arena. He wriggled out of the bandits hold and -without thinking- leapt of the edge after his friend.

The girl still restrained, thrashed even more violently at the sight of the young turbaned boy jumping off the edge after the white haired boy.

Sina reached Nakht midair. he grabbed onto his friend and held on tightly. "I got you!"

"Sina!" Nakht gasped.

The two boys held each other as they plummeted to the ground with a sickening crunch.

 **Should I up the rating? This was pretty gruesome. I feel like some people want me to up the rating. And I am being a bit cruel to all of you. But if I had gotten my reviews poor little Sina and Nakht wouldn't have taken a tumble…okay they would've anyway but at least you would have known what happened to them immediately afterwards. Now you have to wait. How long you have to wait is up to you. Heeheehee…. you know what I want.**

 **Review and I'll update. Muahahahaha!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Not super long but I did promise a chapter on Saturday evening. I'm so grateful for all of the review's ya'll have sent in and I look forward to seeing more!**

Fatima stood about the hummed amusingly. "What a touching show of friendship."

Morgiana growled "You're a monster."

"Me?" Fatima clucked. "I'm only doing my best as a master with such disobedient property. Might as well feed the rest of the hyenas." And with that he cut the rope holding Narjah. The little girl fell and Morgiana screamed. She jumped out of the bandits held and came down hard shattering the shackles on her feet.

A shrill piercing sonic shriek erupted from Morgiana's mouth. Hyenas were slammed against the wall and scattered throughout the arena. The red head could see the two boys collapsed against the bottom of the cliff wall.

Above Fatima was shrieking "Release everything we have for auction!"

Morgiana took a moment to comfort Narjah. Then she moved.

Sina gave a hoarse groan as he felt himself regain consciousness. "Nakht…?" he whispered. "Nakht!"

His friend was lying next to him in the dusty ground. Sina pushed himself up and laid a hand on his dark-skinned friend's head. "Nakht wake up."

He felt something on his hand. When he looked he felt bile surge up his throat. Nakht's lovingly braided snowy hair was dyed a sickening red color. His tan flesh was pale and clammy.

"Nakht…Nakht no…." Sina felt his face tighten with grief. He could taste pennies as tears made their salty tracks down his cheeks. "Nakht wake up."

He ignored the commotion of the arena. He ignored the screaming of half mad animals. And the furious smashing and crunching sounds that the Fanalis made.

All of his attention was on his friend. His best friend in this lifetime. His friend who was only seven years old. Nakht. Sweet Nakht who loved telling him the things he had learned traveling around. who was secretly a crybaby and mother hen. Whose mother taught him how to braid and kept trying to manage Sina's own messy locks. Nakht who hated seafood with a passion. Who snuck the pillow under Sina's head even when it wasn't his turn to have it. he taught him to stop looking in Fatima's eyes. The boy was the kindest person Sina had ever known. he snuck fruit slices in Sina's gruel when he thought he wasn't looking. he confided in him. he laughed with him. His friend Nakht…who was far too still right now.

"Nakht…. please don't die. I promised you that you weren't going to die. You can't let me break my promise. Nakht…Nakht please."

The Fanalis girl approached from behind. She had a bag of keys and Narjah in one of her arms.

"I'm sorry." She said in her monotone voice.

"He's my friend." Sina sobbed against Nakht's chest. "My very best friend."

"Let me remove his chains at least. No one should wear chains after…"

*sniff* "Yeah…Okay."

Sina moved back as the Fanalis girl pushed a key into the slot on Nakht's collar. But then she paused. She leaned down to press her ear right against Nakht's lips.

"What are you doing?" Sina sniffled as he rubbed his sleeve against his cheeks.

"He's breathing."

"What!"

After finding that Nakht hadn't died from the fall. The Fanalis girl whose name was Morgiana, (Sina found out later) raced to the prisoner cells to try to find a doctor among the capture people.

There were three doctors in the cells.

She brought them to where Nakht was laying and they went to work.

She and the rest of the freed prisoners (including that blue haired boy Aladdin, that turned out to be her friend.) all fought to relinquish the stadium from the bandits and Fatima's control with the help of some giant blue monster that came out of a flute.

Sina tried not to think about that particular oddity.

He was too focused on running this way and that to gather all the supplies that the doctors needed to help Nakht. Another doctor from the various caravan and hired mercenaries descending on the stadium joined them a while later. The four doctors worked for hours to help Nakht

His friend had a dislocated shoulder, a broken arm, a sprained ankle, severely bruised ribs, a huge ugly bruise all over his back and left side, a ton of scrapes and abrasions, and a very nasty head wound. The doctors were worried about his back being hurt really bad but assured Sina that his injuries could and should have been a lot worse with a fall from that height. They exclaimed that it was nothing short of miraculous that they were both alive let alone the fact that Sina only had a broken wrist and some scrapes and bruises and Nakht would make a full recovery after a time.

"Solomon has protected the both of you son." One elderly doctor patted him on the head. "Be grateful for that."

"'Kay." Sina mumbled as he snuggled against the resting Nakht's side. The old man laughed as he left them to nap for a few hours.

The boy Aladdin came over to Sina and Nakht at the celebration feast late that night.

Nakht had woken up only a few hours before and was still sniffling on Sina's should for being "so stupidly brave…and stupid…so stupid…stupid." Apparently as grateful as Nakht was for Sina leaping after him, he was still a bit peeved at his thoughtlessness of his own safety.

Aladdin sat next to them with a smile. "Miss Morgiana told me what happened. You two are really good friends huh?"

Sina gave a wry smile. "Nakht's my best friend. Who else would you jump off a cliff with?"

Nakht gave a stuffy sounding sigh as he mumbled. "Jokes? You're making jokes about that now? Already?"

"I guess your right!" Aladdin laughed. "I'm on my way to Balbadd to see my good friend Alibaba. Miss Morgiana is coming with me. What are you two doing after this?"

The two boys blinked. Sina looked into his cup wonderingly as Nakht fiddle with his arms sling.

"I don't really know…I haven't thought about it."

"Me neither…I never thought I would ever not be a slave." Nakht said quietly. "What should we do?" he looked at Sina, who shrugged.

Aladdin tilted his head. "You could try to find your mother. I bet she really misses you."

"Yeah. But then Quinmir would just sell me again first chance he got. I don't want to put her through that again. Besides, she probably thinks I'm dead or worse by now."

"Hmmm….I know! You two can travel with me and Morg to Balbadd! I can introduce you to my good friend Alibaba! Then you can be his friend too! What do ya think?!" he smiled.

Sina and Nakht looked at each other. "Well…it sounds like a plan to me." Nakht shrugged.

"Sounds like an adventure." Sina grinned and turned to Aladdin. "We're in!"

"Great!"

 **And so our heroes begin their journey to Balbadd! I thought about giving Nakht a touching emotional death but I just love that little guy so much. He's the Ron to Sina's Harry! I can't just kill him. Sinbad does show up in the next chapter so be excited! Review please!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello! I'm excited to post this update! Enjoy! And please update when you're done!**

A few days later the four of them were trekking through the thinly shaded desert trail on their way to Balbadd. Trees sparsely shaded their path but he blazing heat of the merciless sun bore down on the travelers. But nevertheless each of them beaming with bright enthusiasm and exorbitant amounts of energy.

Well…some of them…

"Go on without me Nakht…I can't go on…tell my story…" Sina moaned face down in the burning sand.

Nakht was tugging on his arm as Aladdin and Morgiana stared back at them. "What story!? You're seven, you idiot! I'm not leaving you but I'm sure as Solomon not going to drag your butt to Balbadd! Get up!" the hysterical boy despite his rant began dragging Sina with his good arm face first through the sand. "Let's go you wimp!"

"But Nakht…. It's so hot! I'm melting…look at me…I'm just a puddle of a person." Sina mumbled through a mouthful of sand.

"It's not that bad! I've seen way worse before! You just have no heat tolerance! Get up!"

Aladdin laughed awkwardly. "I guess you can tell they're really close friends huh Morg?"

Morgiana raised a red brow. "Huh." Finally, she came over and hoisted Sina onto her back.

"Hey whoa! Are you carrying me?" he blushed as the girl began trudging forward.

"You're slowing us down." She stared determinedly ahead as she held the boy.

"Oh…sorry. Hey put me down I'll walk. I'm just being dramatic I guess. Sorry Miss Morgiana."

"Fine." She set Sina back onto his feet.

The embarrassed boy began to fidget with his head scarf making sure all of his hair was hidden from the sun's vengeful rays to distract from his blushing cheeks. Nakht scolded him as they moved forward through a thicker oasis of trees and blessed shade. "You are such a wimp!"

"Shut up."

"You got up for Miss Morgiana but not me. You're a big brat."

"Bully. It's so hot I'm sweltering."

"I'm the one with a broken arm and you don't see me complaining." Nakht stuck his tongue out.

"Well, I…I…. uh…I don't have a good come back but you suck."

Aladdin snickered at the two bickering boys and even Morgiana cracked a small smile at their antics.

"I'm glad we brought them along. This is fun huh Morg?"

"I want to thank you and Alibaba." Morgiana said suddenly. The two boys stopped their bickering to listen.

"Thank us?" Aladdin wondered

"I'm grateful. You've given me a future of true freedom; I am forever in your debt." She lowered herself to the floor. "Thank you Aladdin

"Well we have to thank you to Miss Morgiana!" Nakht exclaimed bowing at the waist to the girl. "Because if it wasn't for you, me and Sina would still be slaves!"

"Or dead." Sina nodded also bowing.

"Yeah! You saved our lives Miss!" Nakht smiled as Morgiana blushed at their praise.

"And it's alright Morg cause if I know my friend Alibaba he feels the same way I do. So there's no need to thank us because Alibaba is just that kind of guy you know."

Morgiana smiled at Aladdin's grin.

"Oh boy! it's been way to long. I can't wait to see him again." Aladdin exclaimed.

"Yeah and we'll be able to if we follow this road."

"Alright then, let's go."

Aladdin imagined Alibaba walking toward them a vision of friendship and joyous reunions. Unfortunately, that mirage melted away to reveal a naked man with arms open coming toward them.

"Oh hello. Real nice weather today huh?" The naked man grinned down at them. His golden earrings catching the sunlight. The four children stared at the strange image in front of them for a full minute. Then…

"AHHH!"

"Look out Morg and get back!" Aladdin flung his arm out.

"It's okay just leave it to me." Morgiana got into a fighting stance.

"My eyes burn!" Sina shrieked hysterically covering his face.

"Is that a leaf?!" Nakht cried as he buried his head in Sina's shoulder.

"Look out he might be a monster!"

"Understood I'll take care of it."

"Hey, Hey I'm not! hear me out!"

"Huh?"

After a while and a very quick explanation the man was given some of Aladdin's clothing. It was so comically small on the buff man that Sina couldn't look straight at him without snickering. Nakht kept elbowing him to make him stop.

"I got totally cleaned out by some bandits on my way to Balbadd today. My name is Sin."

"Sin? Hey, his name is like yours Sina!" Aladdin cheered.

"Yeah they are. That's interesting." Sina said distractedly as he snuck a long drag of Nakht's water before the dark-skinned boy snatched it back with a hissed. "Glutton."

The blue haired boy turned back to the stranger. "You got robbed Mister? I see. I guess as somebody who crossed the desert I can get a little paranoid about danger sometimes." Aladdin admitted.

Sin got an interested look on his face. "So you've crossed the desert." He stroked his chin at the information.

As Aladdin described his trip the man began poking at the fire they had set. Sina scooted far away from the merciless heat. "we're in the middle of the burning desert so what should we do? I know, let's set a fire! That'll cool us down." He grumbled quietly as Nakht elbowed him to shut up.

The man Sin, smiled "That euphoria from coming upon unknown lands and knowledge, the confidence that comes from finding new paths, the experience, the bond between friends you'd risk your life for. Adventures are great. And they are everyman's true dream."

Aladdin grinned excitedly "Yeah! I get it! I know exactly what you mean!"

The man laughed and turned to Morgiana. "Not only that, but one of the perks of going on a journey is coming across a sweet young girl like you."

Morgiana nodded quietly. And Sina mumbled. "What a dirty old man."

"Wait what?!" Sin gaped at the boy.

"You spoke too loud dummy." Nakht elbowed him again.

Sina huffed and crossed his arms to protect his vulnerable ribs from his friend and amusingly watched the man's face crumple. "I-I'm not old."

… Sina raised an eyebrow at him. "You're only mad because I called you old? Not because I called you dirty?"

"I'm not old. I'm in the prime of my life."

"That's what old men say."

"Urk! …You're a spiteful little boy aren't you?"

"Probably, but I'm not old like you. So I've got the time to learn better, you're probably already going senile though."

"I am not! I remember every journey I've ever been on!"

"So, is that a lot of journeys?"

"Yes!"

"So you have to be old to have gone on so many."

"You little…"

Nakht buried his face in his hands at the ridicules back and forth. Aladdin's eyes darted from boy to man at each comment his eyes widened. And Morgiana caught a strange smell on the wind. Her voice cut in-between their banter.

"The scent of the ocean."

Sin stopped his argument to tilt his chin forward. "You should be able to see Balbadd and the ocean just beyond that hill." He smiled at the Fanalis girl.

"Did you learn that on your many journeys over the years dirty old man?"

"You know what…"

Aladdin and Morgiana ignored the bickering and raced ahead. While Nakht and Sina helped Sin break camp and gather the packs.

Sin looked at the two. "Don't you want to go ahead with your friends?"

Nakht shook his head. "I need to go slower than them. My ribs are pretty sore right now."

"I noticed your arm, and the wrap on your leg, but your ribs are hurt too? And your little friend has a splint on his wrist. Just what happened to you two?" the man asked concerned.

"Our master threw us off a cliff." Sina bluntly cracked. Slightly enjoying the look of shock on his face. 'Why is it so much fun to tease this man?' he wondered to himself

Sin blanched and furrowed his brows in an upset manner. "…Your master? So you were slaves?"

"Yeah. And he just threw me off the cliff. Sina was stupid and jumped." Nakht poked at his friend.

"WHAT! You jumped off a cliff!" Sin exclaimed shocked.

"I wasn't thinkin' about it! I just reacted!" Sina defended and whirled around on his friend. "And if I hadn't jumped after you, you could have been hurt!" he shot at him.

"I was hurt you dummy! You jumped into a pit of man eating beasts! Think things through next time!" Nakht slammed his good hand against Sina's covered head.

Sina crumpled and held his aching skull. "Ow! You're a lot more violent since then you know that, Nakht!?"

"I'm trying to knock some sense into you! I would have done this before but I didn't think you were that stupid!" Nakht returned and punctuated his exclamation with another shot at Sina's skull. Sina returned with a tug of Nakht's braid. Then to stop the fighting Sin held the back of both boys' shirts and pulled them apart. "Now boys let's not argue. You're friends after all right? Now apologize to each other."

The two boys stared at the man and looked back at each other shamefaced. "Sorry I called you stupid." Nakht mumbled. "Sorry I was stupid." Sina grumbled and looked back at Sin. "Now put us down old man." He commanded pointing a finger at the ground.

The man Sin grimaced and then gave a not so nice smile. "You know what? No."

"No? What do you mean No?!" Sina growled as the man hoisted the packs on his back and held the boys in each arm. Nakht was held on his hip with his good arm looped around Sin's neck while Sina was held awkwardly by his gut under the man's other arm.

Sin laughed at Sina's wiggling attempts to get loose while Nakht settled quickly. "Both of you are hurt so I'll carry you the rest of the way."

"I don't want you to carry me put me down old man!"

"Then consider this punishment for calling me old, little boy."

"Grrr…" Sina growled while Nakht giggled happily from his perch.

"Thank you for carrying us Mister Sin."

"You're welcome Nakht." Sin grinned at the cute boy in his arms and happily ignored the spiteful grumbling from his other hip.

Then Sin carried them up the hill to join Morgiana and Aladdin. Both of them smiled at the sight the three of them made. Morgiana took her bed roll and Aladdin took his bag and the five of them continued down the hill into the great island kingdom of Balbadd. With Sina grumbling the whole way down about both the heat and this weirdo that their group picked up.

 **Linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelineline**

Sin carried the two boys all through the crowded streets of Balbadd. Sina kept up a constant commentary of scowls and cranky grumbles as he went. The blazing sun shone brightly down on the group as Sin educated the children on what he knew of Balbadd. They wandered past some stalls of food and shining jewelry. An array of decorated pots was mounted on one stall while another had huge melons stacked over Sin's head. The people were finely dressed and bartered and traded easily with slips of paper.

Then they crossed a stone bridge and Sina could tell it was a much poorer district. The streets were dirty and there were people slumped in the corners looking starved and pitiful. Small malnourished children watched them with hungry eyes from the windows above. While the blazing sunlight was only punctuated by occasional shade from overhanging holey rags and grungy sheets.

Sina looked up to see Sin taking in the decrepit scenery around them with a shrewd eye. ' _He looks upset. Like this is all personal to him._ ' Sina thought.

As they walked along a wooden plank way Aladdin pointed out some smeared graffiti on the brick wall. "Well I really don't want to know what they used for paint." Sina scowled as he took in the rusted red flakes coming off the message. Sin tightened his grip on the two boys he was lugging around when he heard that. "Hey! Watch the stranglehold old man!" Sina hissed like a wet cat. "Sorry about that." Sin smiled carelessly.

"Sorry Sina's so cranky. He gets like that when it's hot." Nakht whispered.

"I heard that! I'm not cranky!" Sina wailed.

"What does the wall say Mister Sin?" Nakht asked ignoring his grumbling friend.

"It says 'Overthrow the Monarchy.' I'm guessing you can't read. Nakht?"

"No sir, neither can Sina."

"I can read! And write too!"

"You can write your name!" Nakht shot back at him.

"That counts!" it was true that Sina's mother didn't have the time nor the knowledge to teach her son how to read or write beyond his name. And Fatima never bothered to educate his slaves. So while Sina did know how to read and write fluently in English, the odd Arabicized symbols that they used here wasn't something he had ever seen in his past life. 'it kind of looks like Hermione's homework for Ancient Runes' he thought absently. 'But it's not like I ever paid any attention to that either.' He depressed himself further.

"Why would someone write this message mister?" Aladdin wondered aloud.

"Well, ever since the death of the former king the whole country has been in crisis." Sin informed them as he led them to an opulent area. He stopped grandly in front of a magnificent building.

"But you'll all be perfectly safe here. It's the finest luxury hotel in the country. it's where I always stay. And I'll take care of the bill, you four can stay here as long as you desire."

"Wow! Thank you mister!" Aladdin's eyes glistened cheerfully and Morgiana gave a shy bow of gratitude.

"That's very nice of you Mister Sin." Nakht smiled gratefully.

"So you're a rich dirty old man." Sina said aloud.

"I'm not old!" Sin jostled the boy playfully scolding him.

"But you admit to being dirty and rich."

"Never mind; let's go in." Sin laughed as he carried the two boys up the stairs leading the way.

"Hey stop right there!"

"Who the heck are you!"

"Shady Bastard!"

Guards swarmed the man and tried to repel him with wooden staffs. Nakht and Sina were jostled in the fray. "Hey, watch it!" Sina hissed at the guards.

"Shady? what's so shady about me?"

"Come one it's so obvious!"

"What part of me are you referring to?"

"Are you kidding look how you're dress! And your lugging around two kids half naked to boot!"

Sin kept the staffs from hitting the boys but he couldn't hold them off with his hands full. They were getting pushed back down the stairs.

"Enough." A commanding voice stopped the guards. It was a young man with freckled skin and long robes. He had wide dove grey eyes that shrewdly ran over all of them. Behind him was a very tall man with bright red hair and bright golden armor.

Sin explained the situation to the new men. And the freckled man addressed Aladdin and Morgiana while Sin carefully set Nakht and Sina on their feet. "Unfortunately, it seems our master has caused you quite a bit of trouble. As he said before you can leave your bill to us."

Aladdin raised his arms excitedly "Wow thanks mister subordinates!"

"And you- "the man turned to Sin. "Let's get you into- "

fump!

Sina crashed face first into the fine carpet of the hotel.

 **And Sinbad is here! I'm so happy with all the comedy I've stuck in. This will be so hilarious later on! For those wondering how long Sina were in Fatima's oh so tender care, Sina was four when he was taken from his mom, he just turned seven years old now. So that's two nearly three years as a slave and most of that was being Fatima's punching bag and stress relief. Please Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**New chapter! I'm so excited to post this.**

"Sina!" Nakht cried as he rolled his friend over.

The freckled man kneeled down next to him. "Was he hit by one of the staffs?" he asked concerned looking over his shoulder at Sin.

"No I made sure neither of them were hit." The older man kneeled next to Sina. Nakht hovered anxiously by his side, crouched by Sina's hip.

"Nakht…" Sina hoarsely whispered. His face was flushed and his green eyes were glazed as they nauseatingly scanned for Nakht.

The tan boy scrabbled for his friends' hand. "Sina…Sina I'm here are you okay?"

"I'm dying."

"No! No you're not!" Nakht began crying. Tears began dribbling down his cheeks.

"I'm going to be a ghost." Sina sounded dazed and half asleep.

"No you can't! Sina!" Nakht abandoned Sina's hand to grip desperately on his ragged shirt.

"It's so hot."

"…Hot?" Nakht looked suspiciously through his tears, he let go of his shirt and rocked back on his heels. "You've just overheated again? That's it?" his voice was incredulous

"Heat exhaustion can be dangerous. Let's get him to a cool bath." The freckled man scooped Sina into his arms. He dashed off with Nakht at his heels. Sin followed them and called back to Aladdin and Morgiana.

"Don't worry about Sina! We'll take care of him and meet you guys for lunch later on!"

The quiet red headed man glanced at Morgiana one last time and followed silently behind.

Ja'far walked quickly but evenly down the hall as to not jostle the overheated boy unnecessarily. The turbaned boy was babbling quietly as Nakht kept pace with them.

"I met a ghost once." Sina absently recalled.

"Wha-What? Sina you're not making sense." Nakht jogged closer as he was gripped with confusion by his friends' words.

"He's delirious from the heat. Keep him talking until we can get him cooled down." Ja'far ordered as Sin and the red headed man caught up to them. "Masrur get some maid to pour cool not cold water into the tub. Quickly." The red haired man nodded and flew swiftly down the hall ahead of them.

"Whose ghost did you meet young one?" Ja'far's voice changed to be gentle but his eyes were steely and determined.

"Nick. We called him nearly headless Nick."

"Nearly headless? Why did you call him that?"

"His executioner messed up. He didn't get all the way through. His head was all dangling on the side. Hahaha" Sina's fevered speech was disconcerting. The purple headed Sin behind them blanched at the dark joke. "That's not funny." He followed the two into the lavish hotel room. Ja'far called out commands as he bustled Sina in the bathing chambers. "Go get dressed Sin." And Nakht scurried in behind him.

The pale freckled man lifted Sina's whole body into the copper tub, clothes and all. "If we wait too long he could get very sick. I'm guessing he gets over heated like this a lot?" he asked Nakht.

"Yeah. I don't know why though. We've worked in the heat tons of times and he has his turban so he should be used to it right?" Nakht wondered as he clutched his friends hand over the tub.

"Perhaps your friend simply has a weaker constitution than yourself. Coming from Heliohapt I'm sure you're quite used to hot weather." The man smiled.

"I'm not from Heliohapt?" Nakht tilted his head.

"Really? I assumed with your skin and hair that you were. Where are you from?" the man asked the boy.

"My village was called Maedir. My mother was born in the dark continent. I never asked about my father."

"Is that right?" the man hummed as he poured more cooled water into the tub. "Your friend should be alright. He might get dizzy a few more times today but as long as he stays in the shade and drinks plenty of water he'll be just fine. Masrur will have called the doctor to check on him as well."

A knock sounded on the bathroom door.

"That should be him." The man opened the door and let a pudgy older physician inside the room. "The boy overheated in the sun after a long walk. I'd like it if you look over him and make sure he's alright."

"Of course very good sir." The hotel doctor nodded and bustled his way to Sina with his bag of supplies.

Ja'far nodded at the doctors' efficacy and gently led Nakht into the sitting room. "Now let's let the good doctor work and get some food inside you as well." He sat Nakht on the couch and laid out a small arrangement of fruits on the table.

"But- "

"Your friend will be fine. He's in good hands."

"Ok…thank you mister…. uh?"

"Ja'far. My name is Ja'far." The freckled man smiled.

Nakht nibbled on the fruit while Masrur stood against the wall and Ja'far chatted with Nakht quietly. Sin came out of the bedroom dressed in fine robes a little bit later.

"Has the doctor said anything?" he asked Ja'far as he sat down.

"It's only been a few minutes Sin. Give the doctor some time to work. I'm sure that Sina will be fine." The freckled attendant pushed Sin to sit on the couch.

Sin laughed as Nakht handed him a succulent piece of slice fruit. "It's really good Mister Sin."

"Well thank you Nakht that's very kind of you to share." The purple haired man took a bite. Nakht gave a big yawn, covering his mouth tiredly. The little boys' metallic eyes were drooping tiredly as he slumped against the cushy pillows behind him.

The man Ja'far motioned towards the redheaded man in the corner. "Masrur? Could you carry Nakht to the room to lay down for a bit." The Fanalis man nodded and lifted the drowsy boy into his arms. After settling the little boy in that bed the man returned to the main room. The two other men were speaking of the other guests that Sin had brought with him.

"-and that girl; surprising isn't it? To think that she's a Fanalis just like you." Sin commented.

"I am yes. It is rather unusual."

"Now Sin, surely you weren't robbed of all of your belongings by those hideous thieves were you?"

"Surely I was." Sin laughed. Ja'far's face contorted in surprise as he stomped in front of him.

"Not just your clothes but every piece of your equipment too?"

"They took every last thing." He smiled carelessly

Ja'far frantically shook the laughing purple haired man in his exasperation. "What's the matter with you did you forget what that was?!"

"Hahaha it's ok it's ok I find a way out somehow just leave it to me."

" Oh really? When are going to awaken to your responsibility as our king? Master of our nation Sindria, King Sinbad!"

"Don't worry so much Ja'far, I'm sure that-?"

The elderly doctor came out of the rest room were Sina was. "The young boy will be fine. Could I trouble someone to help me carry him to the bed?"

Masrur walked over to the bathroom as the doctor stayed in the lounge to give his medical recommendations to Ja'far and Sinbad.

"I would keep him out of the sun for the rest of the day, if he must go outside keep him in the shade or make sure he has his turban on. make sure he drinks plenty of water and has a lot of fruit for both lunch and dinner. I want him to have a good nap before lunch. I rewrapped his wrist in a new bandage. Also, I left his wet clothes on the bench and wrapped him in a towel. Let his clothes dry before you redress him to avoid chaffing."

"We'll keep your advice in mind. Thank you for your service." Ja'far showed the man to the door.

Before he left the doctor nodded and gave Sinbad an odd comment. "Don't you worry sir, your son will be up and ready for lunch in an hour or so. He looks so much like you if I may say." and with that the doctor left.

"Son?" Sinbad questioned. Ja'far shrugged as he shut the door behind the doctor.

Masrur's voice carried from the bathing chambers. "Sin…come see this."

Ja'far and Sinbad both entered the now cramped bathing room to find Masrur holding Sina who was bundled loosely in a large fluffy towel. But that wasn't the strange thing. The most eye catching part of it all, was Sina's head.

Before all Sinbad could see was the turban wrapped tightly around his skull, covering every strand of hair the kid had. But the turban was off now. Laid sloppily on the bench with the rest of his soaked clothing. And all Sinbad could see was the gleaming purple strands coming off the boys' head dripping with water from the bath.

"So that's why he thought Sina was my son…" was all Sinbad could say.

Ja'far however had a bit more to say than that. "You Idiot!" he smacked his king on the arm furiously.

"What?! What did I do!?" Sinbad whined rubbing his abused limb.

Ja'fars' eyes were daggers as he ranted at his king. "What did you _do_? Look at him Sin! He looks just like you! I knew all of your skirt chasing would come back to bite us one day and it has!"

"But-! But… I mean… it couldn't… I mean sure it could but… uh… oh crap…" Sinbad tried to defend himself from his enraged attendant but floundered badly. "Well I mean; we don't have any proof that he is _mine_! I mean it could just be a coincidence that his hair is the same color!"

"Yes. Just like it's a coincidence that his name is SINA!?" Ja'far growled. "His poor mother probably named him after you! Oh Solomon; his mother! She's probably going to demand some lavish treatment for a King dumping his kid on her without so much of a word! This scandal could ruin the integrity of our very country Sinbad! Your honor could be stained in the eyes all every Royal in the World!" Ja'far quickly worked himself up into a panic. Sinbad joining him for the ride.

"But…But… I mean…"

"And we don't even know who his mother is! She could be one of the hundreds of noble women you've dallied with over the years!"

"Hey! It hasn't been hundreds Ja'far!"

"And what if her country decides to go to war over this Sinbad? Or if they demand you marry this woman?! We could find ourselves in an incredibly dangerous political situation. We could end up all but selling Sindria to a foreign power because you couldn't keep it in your pants!"

"What! No…I…" Sinbad was speechless as his vizier laid out all the ramifications for his actions.

"Not to mention the responsibility of the child himself!" Ja'far turned to where Masrur was holding Sina to further his point.

Only to find them gone.

"Where did-?"

"I put him to bed." Masrur said from the doorway.

Sinbad and Ja'far realized how silly it was for them to be arguing in the cramped bathing room so they shuffled out into the lounge. "Of course. Thank you Masrur." Sinbad coughed awkwardly.

He collapsed on the couch and struggled to come to terms with what had just occurred in the last half hour of his life.

"I might have a son."

"You probably have a son. We'll have to have Yamuraiha confirm with her magic when we return home."

"Right. But let's assume he is mine for now then. I have a son. I don't know who is mother is. I don't know what country he was born in.- "

"And whatever country he was born in can claim citizenship over him if you do legitimize him. Giving them power within Sindria's sphere of influence."

"…. Right." Sinbad gave his advisor a baleful look at his disparaging comments.

"Do you plan on legitimizing him?"

"If he's mine yes. If he's not, then he and Nakht are both free to become Sindrian citizens anyway. I already decided that on our journey here."

"Very well. So if Sina is yours then…"

"Then I'm a father. I never expected to be one."

"Hinahoho will be pleased at least. He's been nagging you to find a wife and have a few kids for years."

"yeah…I have a son…Solomon." Sinbad buried his head in his hands that this revelation.

 **And end of chapter! Sinbad knows and I can't wait to see how he rolls with being a father. The Balbadd arc is also underway. And this is quite exciting! How do you think playboy Sinbad will deal with a son? Do you think Alibaba and Sina will get along as fellow illegitimate sons? How should I twist the story to include Harry's influence.**

 **Speaking of some people are upset about my interpretation of Sina/Harry. Do you think I should delete this story and reupload this with Sina as an original OC? I have some plans for Sina and magical training but I can abandon it if it's really not working out. I intend this story to be a long one so the build up will take some time.**


	11. Chapter 11

**My birthday is coming up soon so I'd thought that I'd post this so I wouldn't forget to do it on Wednesday! I'm so happy (clap along if you feel like a room without a roof). I'm going to have a party and go to a convention and have fun! So I'll probably not update for a week or so. Sorry! ^.^***

 **This chapter is a little more serious as we have Sinbad making outrageous promises and trying to come to terms with being a father. Among some murderous plots**

"Sin; I understand you're confused right now but we have a meeting with king Ahbmad and deputy King Sahmad."

Sinbad sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. "Oh yeah, those two."

"Yes those two. Now let's go or we'll be late." Ja'far held the hotel door open.

"Fine." Sinbad reluctantly got up and froze. "But what about Sina and Nakht? We can't leave two kids alone especially with Sina's health right now." Sinbad frowned. His son, (and wasn't that an odd thing to think?) was so small and sickly. He couldn't in good conscious leave him alone with no one to watch him.

Ja'far slouched. "Right. We'll um… if we bring the boys before King Ahbmad he'll undoubtedly ask about them. Are you willing to declare Sina as your son so soon?"

Sinbad had an uncommonly serious look on his face as he contemplated for a long moment. "…I hate to say it but no. At least not now with how delicate his health is and with Balbadd's current diplomatic issues with Sindria, I don't trust Ahbmad not to try to use him against me. I really don't like that brat-king."

"Like him or not he's still the king of Balbadd. We'll leave the boys here and return quickly from the meeting."

"Alright." Sinbad relented reluctantly. "Let's go then."

 _ **Linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelineline**_

"King Sinbad, long time no see." The obese king wearily smiled.

"Let's dispense with the greetings." Sinbad was terse with the younger fatter man. "I have but one requirement for you u. You must continue trade with Sindria immediately." His golden eyes sent shivers down the other kings' spine.

"Sorry, but Balbadd is facing urgent internal diplomatic issues." His lisp was irritating and distracting.

After a vague description of the Fog Troupe thieves plaguing Balbadd, Sinbad felt a migraine blossom behind his eyes at the irritating man-child. The Sindrian king absently listened to Ahbmads' incessant whining.

"-The people are such fools." Ahbmad distained as he shoved a pudgy finger up his nose. Sinbad felt himself subtly gag at the filthy habit but he managed to keep his voice steady. "Your reputation is terrible."

"Hey! That's not our fault! The Fog troupe just named a real troublemaker as their leader!" He wailed then not so quietly hissed to himself. "Why did he have to show up now of all time?"

"No!" Deputy king Sahmad gasped and slammed his hands over his brothers' mouth. "Don't bring that up now brother!" he whimpered his voice as timid and airy as ever.

Ahbmad gasped and nodded at his younger brother as he was shushed.

Sinbad felt his interest peak at the obvious and stupid brothers' charade.

Ahbmad gasped and nodded as he was shushed by his brother. Ahbmad tried to cover up his mistake but managed only to make himself appear more incompetent "Well if you want to continue trade you're just going to have to do something about it yourself. Huh?" he laid out a challenge to the foreign king.

"Oh yeah?" Sinbad rose. His eyes were flat and humorless. His dagger glinted brightly as he held it and flashed as he stabbed it in the expensive table before him.

"I vanquish that Fog troupe or whatever they're calling themselves. On my own. Without the military." With that violent declaration Sinbad and his entourage left the palace.

…

"Well that was reckless." Ja'far snarked. The freckled man rolled his eyes at Sinbad's back.

"…" The king of Sindria ignored his vizier's unsubtle scolding.

The trio went back into their hotel room. Masrur settle against the wall while Ja'far and Sinbad each peeked into the bedroom the two boys were in.

Nakht and Sina were cuddled together against the headboard. Both were snuggled in the luxurious blankets and their silver and violet tresses tangled together against the fluffy pillows.

"Aww" Ja'far melted at the adorable sight. Sinbad smirked at the younger man. "You've always had such a weakness for cute things." He teased.

"Shut up! You'll wake them, Idiot!" Ja'far hissed, blushing slightly at being caught.

"Yeah ok, let's let them sleep a bit longer." Sinbad quietly shut the door and the pair retreated back into the sitting room.

"We've agreed to meet Aladdin and Morgiana for lunch in a bit. We'll wake the boys up before then." Ja'far reminded Sinbad.

"Sounds good. But before that I want to lay out exactly what we know about Sina. If he's my son I should know everything about him."

"It's true that as the first prince of Sindria -if you decide to legitimize him- you need to be knowledge about Sina's life however; when you say it like that it just sounds… creepy." Ja'far grimaced.

Sinbad twitched. "Shut up and help me!" He bossed.

"Alright fine. Let's write it all down so we can keep track." Ja'far swiped a sheet of paper and a quill from a nearby then the two started with Masrur standing every diligently nearby.

"Okay," Ja'far started "we know he has a low tolerance for the heat." He began jotting things down on the paper.

"He can't read." Sinbad recalled. "neither can Nakht for that matter."

"Alright, well we can teach them both later; as Prince it is essential that Sina learn to read. I'll teach him myself." Ja'far nodded.

'Sounds good." Sinbad stroked his chin as he began contemplating. "He's seen someone die." He recalled.

"Really?"

"That story he told, 'nearly headless Nick'? it was too detailed for it to be the simple imaging's of a child. He had to have known this 'Nick' before he died or have seen the execution himself."

"How awful." Ja'far looked aghast at the thought of such a young child being exposed to such horrors.

"There's more than that." Sin revealed.

But Masrur's voice cut in. "He was a slave. Nakht too."

Sin turned around to look at the stationary Fanalis while Ja'far went bloodless white on the couch opposite. "How did you know?" Sinbad inquired. Ja'far quickly regained his composer (with only a bit of difficulty) and also looked inquisitive.

"They are very thin, Nakht is very timid and calls everyone 'Mister' in place of 'Master'. And they both have scars on their ankles, wrists, and necks from chains."

"Yes. They were slaves until very recently." Sinbad confirmed, his eyes dark.

"How recently?" Ja'far's voice was soft but had a chilling effect. "Could we find their old 'master'?" the implications of the former assassins' words were clear.

"Nakht's arm and leg, along with his ribs and Sina's wrist are fresh injuries. They said that their former master threw Nakht over a cliff and Sina jumped after him." Sinbad recalled.

"So no more than a few days ago." Ja'far confirmed. "I'll see if any slave merchants were traveling nearby."

"Good… I can't imagine the courage it must have taken for Sina to jump after his friend."

"it's not that hard to imagine. He probably didn't even think about it. He must be a loyal boy; Reckless too. I wonder where he gets that from. "Ja'far sarcastically prodded his king.

"Yeah yeah. I'm not that bad." Sinbad waved him off

"No you're worse." Was Ja'far's quick snip.

Masrur took a step closer, bringing him against the back of Sinbad's' couch and deeper into the conversation. "How long were they slaves, do you know?" he wondered.

"I don't know. I didn't ask. They're very young though and not many Slave traders bother with infants." Sinbad began calculating.

"They are very thin. Like they've been hungry for a few years." Masrur reported his observations.

"Yeah. I noticed that too. But Sina doesn't behave like a typical slave. At least not around me. He's actually pretty bratty." Sinbad smirked.

"He's a strong willed boy, something else he inherited from you no doubt. That's good at least, Nakht seemed to be rather reserved." Ja'far said.

Sinbad laughed. "Not when he's around Sina. Those two are the best of friends. You can tell that in how they depend on one another and how they fight each other."

"I see. Good." Ja'far relaxed a bit against his seat. Then he settled a little more seriously into the conversation. "This is a delicate situation we're in Sin."

"I know." Sinbad ran a hand through his long bangs. "I have a son. The first prince of Sindria."

"The other royals will judge you harshly. Having a child before having a queen is one thing. Having a illegitimate former slave as a prince is another. This will undoubtedly damage the reputation of our country one way or the other. The only thing we can do is minimize the damage." Ja'far's eyes were calculating.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Sinbad locked eyes with his trusted friend.

"It all depends of Sina and his mother. If necessary, we can concoct a story to explain her absence. Say that you married her in secret or she died in childbirth or something. I can come up with any number of excuses. And it would probably be best if we hid Sina's past as a slave from the nobility."

"They would use it against him." Sinbad acknowledged.

"Without a moment's hesitation." Ja'far confirmed.

Grey eyes absently checked out the nearby window. "It's about time to go. Let's wake the boys up." The young man stood a brushed nonexistent dirt from his robes.

"Alright. Sina's clothes are still drying in the bathing room. Masrur can you grab them?" Sinbad also rose from his seat.

"Sure." The Fanalis disappeared through the nearby ornate door.

The bedroom door squeaked as the trio of men quietly entered. Sinbad looped around the bed to the side Sina was closer to.

The king began gently shaking his shoulders "Sina... Sina wake up." He leaned down to murmur into the boys' ear.

Sina's green eyes fluttered for a moment and then opened sleepily. Green met gold as Sinbad smile charmingly at the little boy.

"Good Morn-ugk!" Sinbad fell back onto his butt, holding his bloody aching nose. Sina pulled his foot back to him and scuttled to the headboard. "What the hell! Creepy old man, don't sneak up on me!" the boy blanched when he discovered he was naked beneath the towel he was bundled in. "Ack! Where are my clothes!? What did you do?! Dirty old Pervert!"

"Hey I'm not a pervert!" Sinbad gasped through his bloody nose.

Ja'far was collapsed in a corner on the floor in not so silent hysterics. It was rare that anyone managed to injure Sinbad and it was a child at that! he was enjoying his king's fall from grace with great satisfaction.

Nakht was quickly woken up in all of the commotion and begun clinging desperately to Sina. "Sina! You're okay!" he sobbed, hanging off the other boy's towel covered shoulders.

Masrur stood back stoned face, holding Sina's dried clothes. He watched the chaos unfold around him calmly.

"Sina!" Nakht squealed happily. His grip tightened around Sina's neck. "Ugh! Nakht let go! Cant… breathe!" Sina wiggled to get free. In his bid for freedom Sina's towel slipped loose and fluttered from his shoulders to his hips. His back and chest were exposed, along with all of his scars.

Ja'far's' giggle cut off with a wheeze. Masrur already still; froze even more. And Sinbad stood slowly from his crouch. His chin dripping with blood as he took in the multitude of silvery scars on the boy's body. His golden eyes were wide with horror at what he saw.

Ja'far broke the deep silence tentatively. "Masrur has your clothes Sina. They got wet when we were cooling you off. We'll step outside while you change alright?"

The boy noticed what was making the adults so skittish and pulled the towel up to cover himself. "Alright."

Masrur left the bundle of cloth on the bed and the three men stepped out.

The moment the chamber door closed Sinbad slammed a fist into the wall. "Damn it!"

"Sin!" Ja'far yelped.

"Did you-? Ja'far did you see!? His back, his shoulders, his chest! Those scars!"

"I'm not blind I saw. "Ja'far snapped and cast his eyes down.

The three stood in silence. Sinbad shaking in repressed rage at whoever hurt his son. His _son_. Like a surprise blow Sinbad could fully acknowledge to himself- 'I'm a dad.' He was a father. He had a son. A little boy. He had to admit he was a bit bratty and little mouthy, but that only proved even more so that he was Sinbad's' progeny.

He recalled his own father. His resolve, his kindness, his strength of character. He wanted to be such a person. He wanted to be to Sina what his father was to him. A pillar of strength, a mass of warmth to snuggle with, a friend, a confidant, a… well a father.

The king of Sindria thought of his son. His son. A boy who had already been through so much in so little time. A little boy who even now did not truly know that his father was right outside the door. At that thought Sinbad felt a little nauseous. What if Sina rejected him? What if he hated him? What if he demanded to know where Sinbad was all his life? Sinbad felt the blood vanish from his face so quickly he felt lightheaded. A boiling mass of guilt and fear raged in his gut. But he had to deal with first things first.

"After lunch, contact your network. I want those traders found sooner rather than later." He commanded.

His assassin (though he was officially retired Ja'far never really gave up his original trade) immediately knew what his king wanted. "I understand. Do you want them handled quickly or would you rather deal with them yourself?"

"I want to handle them personally; But after the Fog troupe is taken care of. Capture their former master. I don't care about the rest of them. Just the leader. Have him brought to Balbadd and secured discretely. I'll do what needs to be done after we handle Balbadd's issues."

"As you command." Ja'far was very familiar with that the steely look in Sinbad's eyes. It was a rare thing and it never meant well for those it was aimed towards. You don't become a conqueror by being kind after all.

The thick bedroom door eased open. Nakht and Sina were dressed to leave. Although Sina was still fumbling with his turban.

"Here let me help." Sinbad wiped the murderous look in his eyes for a kinder one before the boys could see. He kneeled and twisted the cloth to collect every violet strand of Sina's hair. "Thanks." Sina smirked. "Old man."

Sinbad jerked back and slumped forward depressed at the moniker. "Can't you call me something else? Something cooler? I'm not even old."

"Let's make our way out now." Ja'far amicably smiled at the boys. "We're going to meet your other friends for lunch. We don't want to be late."

"Alright then," Sina couldn't help but huff at all the dramatics Sinbad was showcasing with his sulking. The smaller violet-head **(is there an actual term for having purple hair?)** nudged the larger man. "Come on old man. Let's go. Act your age… your very advanced age." He couldn't resist that final jab before following the other two men out of the room, leaving Sin behind.

The older man chased after them. "Ja'far! See how he treats me!" Sinbad whined.

"Oh I'm seeing it Sin, And, heh heh. I don't feel sorry for you. Old man."

"Ja'far!"

 **Chapter done! So happy about how this one turned out too. My doctor says that writing will help with my anxiety and depression so fair it's not** _ **not**_ **helping. I really liked how Sinbad is slowly coming to grips with being a father and all that wonderful bubby protective instinct coming out.**

 **I wonder how he's going to react when he realizes who Sina's master is? And how Sina is going to react to finding out who is father is (and what he does for a living)? This is going to be fun!**


	12. Chapter 12

**This is a bit short but I'm also going to update my other story too. I had a great birthday too. This has been a good week.**

The group left the hotel a while later to a nearby café. Aladdin and Morgiana happily joined them. Both were glad to see Sina up and about.

"I know just what to order." Sinbad assured them as they all sat down together.

"How are you feeling Sina?" Aladdin asked peering carefully at the smaller boy.

"A lot better I'm fine just got too hot." Sina smiled.

"Does that happen a lot?" Ja'far inquired his gray eyes attentive.

"Sometimes but I've never fainted before."

A waiter swept by and laid a platter before them and quietly shuffled away. Sinbad grinned as they all took in the sizzling dish.

"Help yourselves, this is a Balbadd specialty- A herb baked sea breeze." He announced grandly "A Balbadd specialty. Dig in." The children each grabbed a utensil except for Nakht.

Ja'far noticed the tan boys' hesitance. "Nakht? Why don't you eat."

"… it's staring at me…" Nakht murmured. "What?" Ja'far tilted his head. Sina snorted around a piece of fish while Morgiana and Aladdin stared.

"The fish. It's staring at me." The boy edged away from the dish.

"Nakht's' afraid of seafood." Sina easily informed everyone while swallowing the rest of his bite.

"I'm not afraid! I just don't like food that can look at me!" Nakht slid out of his seat and crossed his arms.

Sina pierced a portion of the fish with one eye still steaming. He brandished it toward his friend. "Look Nakht! It's staring into your soul."

"Ahh, No!" Nakht jolted away like a startled deer.

Sina leapt out of his seat and chased his friend. "He's gonna haunt you!"

"Leave me alone!" Nakht dodged around Sin's chair. The purple haired man chuckled and let the two boys run around his seat a few times.

"Sina!" Nakht whined "Stop it!"

"fish ghost, fish ghost!"

"Stop!"

Nakht dashed behind Masrur and Sina followed happily. The two ran around the Fanalis man a few times. Masrur leaned down and gently caught both boys by the back of their tunics. *rip*

Nakht's shirt had a small tear on the back of the collar. "Sorry." Masrur looked solemn. "It's okay it isn't that bad."

"Alright. Go eat." He nudged both boys back to the table. Sinbad smiled as Nakht continued to avoid sitting near the fishy dish. "Nakht, we can order you something else if you don't like fish."

"Really Mister Sin?" Nakht's face was a picture of wonder.

"Of course. We can't have you go hungry now can we?"

"Wow thank you Mister Sin!" Nakht giggled happily. Sin placed an additional order and a waiter soon scurried off to the kitchen.

"… thanks." Sin almost missed Sina's grateful mumble. He looked down at the boy and noticed he was avoiding his gaze. 'He's so cute.' Sinbad internally crowed. Ja'far met his eyes over the children's heads and smirked at Sinbad's happy expression.

Nakht's sandwich came out and his eyes were so wide. "Is that all for me?!"

Sinbad smiled at his awe. "Yes, it is."

"I'll never finish it!" Nakht squeaked his cheeks flushing.

Ja'far smiled. "Just finish what you can." The rest of them smiled as Nakht began gleefully munching on his meal. "It's good!" he grinned around his bite. Crumbs collected on his chin.

"Don't speak with your mouth full." Ja'far handed him a napkin.

"Thanks!" Nakht wiped his cheeks free of

Sinbad smiled at the cute boy. "Oh," he smiled "I haven't introduced my subordinates yet. This is Ja'far-" "Pleasure to meet you." "-and Masrur." "Hmm"

The children all stared at the adults standing nearby. Sinbad turned to Morgiana. "And Morgiana; Masrur is a Fanalis. So are you right? You have the same eyes."

The pre-teen girl self-consciously shifted in her chair. The larger redhead stared impassively at her. "Hello there …" His voice was even but soft. The type of voice one might use with a especially skittish animal.

"H-h-hi..." she stuttered and nibbled on her meal. Sinbad's eyes were casually calculating across the table a subtle smirk playing on his lips.

Aladdin finished his lunch off and dragged Morgiana and the two smaller boys off to speak to Masrur.

Ja'far sat across from Sinbad and the two men trusted Masrur to keep the kids in line.

Sina began clambering up Masrur's armor. He would slip on the smooth metal every now and then only to have Masrur's palm catch him and push him up higher until the turbaned boy was perched on his shoulders. Nakht stared up at his friend from the ground. Masrur noticed and plucked him up and settled the boy on his hip. Aladdin playfully tugged on his free arm and babbled happily.

Ja'far settled easily and began sipping his glass

"So what's the plan?"

"About Balbadd or Sina?"

"Let's worry about Balbadd first, seeing as you made such a rash promise when we don't even have our equipment." Ja'far looked despondently

"Don't worry about it. When I first established Sindria I learned a lot about trading form the former king of Balbadd. He's been dead for many years, but I won't stand by a let this country sink into the flames of war."

Ja'far's eyes went wide and he spat his drink out in shock.

Sinbad jerked out of the splatters' way and shot Ja'far an incredulous look before looking behind him.

A giant blue set of huge muscular arms exploded out of Aladdin's little golden flute and coming right at him.

"AAAGH!" Sinbad shrieked.

 **New chapter yay! Leave a review on your way out.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey I'm not dead! This chapter is a little short because I plan for the next one to be super long! The Balbadd Arc is an impressive one and I want to do it justice.**

Sina who was coiled around Masrur's neck jerked away at the sudden appearance of the … thing. He tumbled down Masrur's back and landed on Nakht with a squeak of shock.

"What in Merlin's ballsack is that?" Sina screeched from on top of Nakht crumpled form.

"Get off!" Nakht's muffled voice filtered from under him.

"This is Ugo." Aladdin smiled oblivious to the others panic, then he looked at Sina, "Whose 'Merlin'?"

The small purplet blushed and internally berated himself. 'Nobody knows who Merlin is! He doesn't exist here.' Sina thought frustrated. He didn't notice Ja'far narrowed eyes and pale face so he just answered Aladdin. "He's an old story my mom used to tell me. Never mind that, what's an 'Ugo'?"

Sinbad stared amazed at Ugo and cautiously approached the giant headless blue form. "So Aladdin; you're a magi too?"

"Too? Mister do you know other Magi?"

"Yeah and this definitely proves that you are a magi."

"What's a magi?" Sina picked himself off of Nakht awkwardly.

"A Magi is an amazing being that can use the full power of the Ruhkt."

"Ruhkt?" Nakht cuddled behind Sina as far from the blue giant as he could get.

After a few more minutes of explanation, Sina began to creep closer to the blue Ugo as Nakht remained behind, now crouching behind Masrur's legs instead.

Sinbad kept an indulgent eye on the curious boy poking and prodding at the Djinn who was gently nudging the purplet back toward the older man.

"Hey Mister," Aladdin tilted his head "How do you know so much?"

"Well because I'm Sinbad." He smiled and pompously awaited for the shock and praise that usually followed his name. and indeed Aladdin looked awed for a moment and then,

"Eh?"

Sinbad looked shocked and a bit panicked. "You don't know about me? About the adventure of Sinbad?"

"Uh?" Aladdin's face was blank.

Sinbad coughed and tried to impress the young blue haired Magi in an deep announcing voice. "The man of countless legends and adventures. The Conqueror of Seven Dungeons, King of Sindria, Leader of the Seven Seas Alliance! That's who Sinbad is." Sinbad looked proud and slightly desperate for Aladdin to acknowledge him.

"um..Sorry Mister. But um… you sound really cool if that helps."

Sinbad deflated. "Yeah… Thanks." He remained slumped over for a moment. Then the King took a deep breath and flashed a gleaming smile down at Aladdin. "Actually Aladdin, I was wondering if you could help me with something?"

"What is it Mister?" Aladdin smiled.

"I would like your help in bringing the group of bandits called the Fog troupe to justice."

Ja'far gaped and began hissing at his king. "Sinbad! He's just a kid!"

"He's a magi and you've already made a point of how difficult this will be. We could use the help."

"He's almost your sons age!" Ja'far hissed quietly out of earshot of said son.

"My son's not a Magi. And we don't really have a choice but to ask!" Sinbad whispered back. Masrur was quiet but kept a small eye on Nakht who was sneakily approaching Ugo to poke the blue giant alongside Sina, ignoring the adults. Sina was pulling himself up onto Ugo's giant kneecap and he looked preoccupied with his exploration but the former wizard kept a wary ear on the adult conversation. He could tell something was brewing.

Aladdin turned to the only girl in the group. "Morgiana? What do you think?"

The redhead twisted to look out onto the canal of stationary ships. "If the fog troupe disappears the ships with begin to sail again. I will fight."

"Okay then, Sina, Nakht? What do you think?" Aladdin turned to the smaller boys ontop of Ugo's legs.

"If Miss Morgiana and you decide to fight, we're right next to you Aladdin." Sina made a point of crossing his arms and boldly planting his feet on top of the giant. Nakht nodded fervently next to him.

"Whoa Whoa Whoa! No!" Ja'far snapped and hoisted both Sina and Nakht into his arms. The slight man bumbled with the extra wriggling limbs of the two boys. "Hey put us down!" Sina whined. He was hoisted onto Ja'far's thin shoulder and his boney ribs were grinding painfully against the thin assassin.

"No way. I will not put two half-starved boys in this kind of danger!" Ja'far stumbled as Sina kicked out and threw his balance off. Sinbad chuckled and grappled Sina out of his advisor's grip.

"Put me down old man!" Sina wriggled angrily as Sinbad scooped him in a classic cradle hold. He swung the little boy side to side like an overly large infant. A teasing grin mocked Sina as he struggled to get loose from the firm hold.

"Calm down, Sina. It's not that bad. You're too young to fight." The purple haired king chuckled. Sina was so cute with that little pout.

"No I'm not! If Aladdin and Morgiana are fighting, so am I!" Sina grappled and scratched at his gentle captor.

"Easy now. I know you want to fight and that's alright. But you're just not ready yet." Sinbad ignored the red scratches and gave the small boy a gentle squeeze before he handed Sina off to Masrur, "Is this some kind of a game for you!? Let me down!" and approached Morgiana.

"Now Morgiana," Sinbad put his hands confidently on the Fanalis' girl's shoulders and she looked up at Sinbad eagerly. "Go back to the hotel."

Her face went slack. "Huh?"

"Even though you're a Fanalis, I can't ask a girl to fight." The man gently pushed Morgiana toward the hotel. They got a few feet until Morgiana put her foot down. Literary. Her step crushed the stone beneath her in a shock of pressure. Sinbad squeaked as pebbles showered over him. "I wanna fight with you." Morgiana pouted. "Yes ma'am." He peeped.


	14. Chapter 14

**New chapter please enjoy!**

Ja'far lead the way back to Sinbad's hotel room with Aladdin and Morgiana following the petite man. Masrur carried a hissing and wriggling Sina who was pouting and complaining of personal space and how his legs were not broken so he could walk thank you very much!

Nakht quietly followed a shell-shocked Sinbad who trailed behind the group. Occasionally he would in his daze, stray away from the groups path and Nakht would gently tug on his robes to change his course.

Ja'far settled everyone in the room's lounge and began to hash out their plan to capture the fog troupe. "I believe they will attack the homes of the noble Holduke or the wealthy merchant Alserus

"How can you be so sure they will target these men's homes?" Sinbad asked. He focused intently on the map before him on the table.

Ja'far tilted his head. "I've been secretly releasing confidential information through the military. I suspect this is where the fog troupe is getting their information."

"So they have supporters in the government." Sinbad frowned sternly as he folded his arms.

Ja'far nodded. "Yes it seems the Fog troupes popularity is rising far beyond our expectations."

Morgiana shifted in her seat. "Um…" Sinbad looked up and locked his golden gaze onto her, giving her his full attention. "If so many people do support them, should we really be after them? I wonder if they do have so many supporters could capture them not be right?" her voice started confident but slowly trailed off under the kings even gaze.

"It seems like the right thing to me. These thieves steal from nobles, public officials, and merchants. Then they distribute their loot among the common people thus giving them the appearance of so called chivalrous thieves. But here's how I see it, what if this behavior is just a ploy to justify their crimes. Or propaganda to get people on their side. Understand? No. the Fog troupe must be brought to justice. I've truly given this a lot of thought." Sinbad's voice was calm but deathly serious as he outlaid his reasoning for the Fog troupes' actions.

"A hero only stands out in a turbulent time." A tiny voice piped up from behind the couch.

Sinbad blinked and twisted around to peer over the couch. Ja'far rose from his seat with a chiding sigh. "Sina, I thought I sent you and Nakht to rest in the bedroom?"

"You mean nap. I don't need to nap. I want to help." Sina pulled his face over the couch and let Sinbad lift him the rest of the way up. He settled next to the purplet king and began discussing his own viewpoint on the Fog troupe. Ja'far was struck at how similar father and son appeared right now. Side by side and so serious, Sina even crossed his arms the same way. In former assassin struggled not to coo at the cute sight Sina made. Like a little general.

'Or a Prince.' Ja'far corrected his thoughts. 'This accident of Sin's may actually not be the disaster I thought it could be.'

"The fog troupe is banking on the chaos they've stirred up turning into a national crisis. The ships have stopped coming and going so they've succeeded in halting international trade. For a country that bases its entire economy on trade, it's a slow death sentence. The fog troupe has stopped the Balbadd trade and is now destroying the internal structure of the country. Add that to the fact that they have created such disorder and suffocation of the economy while simultaneously making the mass public blame the government for the recession and putting themselves in the light of heroes tells me that they do plan to topple the monarchy. And afterwards in the chaos the people will look to them to help them because they see the fog troupe as heroes against a corrupt system and 'heroes for the people' and the fog troupe will raise themselves to become the new ruling system of Balbadd. They don't care about the people; they just want power."

Sinbad's mouth was agape as he stared at the tiny boy who so clearly understood the complicated situation they found themselves in. he tossed a look at Ja'far and grinned, pointing at Sina and mouthing "Look at him! Look at how smart he is!" silently. A proud grin spread on his face.

Ja'far subtly rolled his eyes at his king and his preening. His king was always such a peacock of a man and now he would undoubtedly use Sina as another thing to brag about.

Aladdin and Morgiana stared at the child with amazed looks. Aladdin blinked in shock. "Wow Sina, you're really smart!"

"I guess." Sina shrugged and pulled the map closer to him. "I think Ja'far, Aladdin, and I should go to the nobles' house with a small group of guards and Morgiana, Masrur, and Sinbad should stake out the merchant's house."

Ja'far tugged the map out of his hands with a flip. "One, you are not going anywhere with anyone tonight and two, why not have the guards divided equally between the two locations?" Ja'far could not believe that he was thinking of taking the advice of a child.

"Well the Fog troupe as you said is attacking officials and nobles to disrupt the workings of the government, then there is a bigger chance that they would attack the noble rather than the merchant." Sina explained his views with a calm expression. Ja'far could see an echo of Sinbad in his chin and the way he set his shoulders, it was amazing how much father and son looked alike.

"And because you said that the public sees them as chivalrous thieves, they don't need to attack the merchant's house. The only thing they would gain there would be more money to pass out to people who already support them, rather than the noble where they would strike a blow to the government they are opposing. No. it's definitely going to be the noble." Sina stared straight into Ja'far's eyes with determination. Ja'far could see the righteous intelligence burning in his eyes. Ja'far could truly see that Sina was indeed the son of Sinbad the 'Singularity'.

"So why bother protecting the merchant at all. Why don't we all guard the Nobleman's house." Sinbad queried raising an eyebrow at the boy.

"No we can't do that. If they see that all the security is at the noble's house, then they'll know their information source is comprised and might attack the merchant just because he's so unprotected. Just because we think we know their target doesn't mean we have to show it to them." Sina argued back.

Ja'far was amazed at how well thought out this strategy was, coming from a seven-year-old and all. But he had a few points to push. "Well, Morgiana and Masrur are our strongest fighters so why should we put them on the merchant's house where it is unlikely to be attacked? Shouldn't we have our strongest at the nobles?"

"Well, maybe but If we pair Sinbad with them it should even out. Cause he's the weakest."

"Hey!" Sinbad yelped. "I'm the conqueror of the seven seas, you little brat! Shouldn't that make me the strongest?!"

Ja'far couldn't contain his giggles while Sina just beamed up sarcastically at Sinbad. "You did lose all of your equipment Sinbad. So…" Ja'far snickered at his king's gob smacked expression. "Ja'far! Yo-you traitor!"

The advisor ignored his unhappy king and continued his tactic debate with the young boy. "How about a compromise? We leave Morgiana and Sinbad at the merchant's house like you suggest but Masrur comes with the larger group to the nobles'."

"No. Masrur is big and if he's there with all the guards and the rest it will seem too protected and the Fog troupe might not attack. If we want to stop them we have to at least capture some of their main fighting force maybe even their leader if we can manage it." Sina kept a firm stance. He was glad to have an adult that didn't brush off his opinions or punished him for disagreeing with their view on a subject.

Morgiana quietly interjected. "Um… I would prefer to be at the nobles' house instead. If that's alright?" Her voice was soft as she cautiously voiced her desires, something as a slave she was denied.

Ja'far looked at Sina. "That would work out. No offense Morgiana but few would see a petite young lady like yourself as a threat." Morgiana nodded unhappily to his point.

Sina reached forward to snatch a bundle of grapes from the table and popped a few as he considered it. "That could work. Masrur and Sinbad at one house and Ja'far, Morgiana, Aladdin, myself and the guards at the other. Yes that would be perfect."

"Hold it young man." Sinbad cut across Sina. "You are staying at the hotel with Nakht, where it is safe. I won't allow you to go out onto a fight like this."

Sina scowled up at the larger man. "Who are you to tell me to do anything old man, my Master?!"

Sinbad jerked back agast and disgusted at the accusation. "No!" Sinbad fell forward to his knees in front of the boy. "No Sina, never. You will never have a Master again. I swear on my life you won't! You are-"

Ja'far cut across him. "Sinbad perhaps we should prepare for tonight. Your time is better spent organizing the guard rotation tonight while I deal with certain other matters."

Sinbad let the lithe man pull him up and lead him out of the lavish room. Before he left Sinbad called over his shoulder. "Masrur could you stay with the children please. And Sina, I promise we'll talk tomorrow."

In the hallway Sinbad scowled at his advisor. "Why didn't you let me tell Sina about me being his father!?"

Ja'far snapped. "We are leaving in an hour into a potentially dangerous situation. You wouldn't have time to explain everything to him. Let alone answer all of the questions he would undoubtable have about you and his mother and where you've been, and why you want him now. Sin, you can't just do that in half and hour or so!"

The Sindrian king bowed his head at his own foolishness. "You're right Ja'far, I was just so proud of him and when he asked if I was his Master I just couldn't…"

"I know Sin. You'll explain everything to him soon. But first we have to deal with the Fog Troupe."

"You do have a point. And while I deal with the guards what will you be doing?"

Ja'far smiled up at his king. But it wasn't a nice smile. It was a chilling smile. A cold smile. A smile that sent a shudder running up and down Sinbads' spine. It was Ja'far's assassin smile.

"I have some slavers to capture."


	15. Chapter 15

**Hi! I've got a new chapter for you! This is mainly a filler chapter while I spackle in some holes I left over in other chapters. If you please I would ask if you review!**

Ja'far and Sinbad continued down the lavish hotel hallway together. Ja'far gave his king a wary sidelong look. "Sin, I..uh"

The Sindrian king grimaced and forced and uneasy. "Ja'far, it's not like you to be so hesitant. How bad is it?"

"I'm not sure. It's just something Sina said. When he was surprised by Ugo, he said something I found…disconcerting."

"And what was that?"

"Merlin's balls. It sounds like an expression like 'sweet Solomon' or 'God's love' or something but…"

"But what Ja'far? If it's just an expression, then why should we worry?" Sinbad's eyes were narrowed and unhappy. His son shouldn't be talking or thinking about that sort of thing. Even if it's just an expression, he's far too young for that.

"When Aladdin asked who this 'Merlin' is, Sina became very uncomfortable and defensive so maybe…"

"Maybe Merlin's a real person." Sinbad growled. The idea of any man touching his son in that manner made him steel with fury.

"I can't say for sure Sinbad."

The kings face was unhappy but he carried on. "Go and find those slavers Ja'far. I want them alive and I will be questioning the leader personally."

"Understood, see you tonight." The lithe man leapt out of the nearby window and into the bustling city street below. Gazing out the window, Sinbad couldn't even make his friend out in the crowd.

"That never gets old, now does it?" He chuckled and moved on.

Ja'far removed his turban and outer robes in the shadow of the alley. Underneath lay a more discrete set of clothes. With the fabric of his turban he fashioned a mask to conceal his face. The young man now utterly unrecognizable as Sindria's' vizier dashed down another of the hundreds of Balbadd alleyways.

Coming to a particularly dirty, filth ridden area, he slowed to a walk. In the middle of the path of a broken bottle with a set of stones inside, Two sea glass green and one dark blue pebble. 'So the soldiers haven't patrolled the area all day, and informants have passed twice.' Ja'far noted and walked passed the bottle, stopping for a moment to place a clear quartz pebble in the bottle alongside the others.

Three steps from the bottle he approached the wall. Dirt and grime covered the once clear sandstone and the corner rank of stale piss. but just above his head was a loose stone. Too high for children to notice and too small for adults to bother with, perfect. Ja'far pressed the stone back into place and stepped away as a section of the path gave way to a secret tunnel. He lowered himself down and pressed another stone inside the tunnel, closing the door behind him.

The tunnel was dark and smelled of mold and rat droppings. Ja'far ignored the smell and focused on making his way through quietly and quickly. Light shone ahead on the path. The tunnel opened into a amphitheater. Sunlight filtered through the broken stonework from above. Ja'far scanned the area from the tunnels shadows. The room appeared empty but he knew better than to assume that it was.

A voice echoed out from the shadows. It was impossible to tell where it came from. It came from all over and bounced around the empty cavern in a round of riddles.

"Oh pitiless traveler, oh honor bound thief.

What has brought you here? A mission to task,

Or just the breeze catching a leaf?"

Ja'far refrained from grumbling. This sect always did have a flair for dramatics he didn't care for. But if he wished for help or information he knew he had to play along with their games. So Ja'far reluctantly began his own rhymes.

"No thief could ever hope to stumble here

My friends, I come to know what

Your oh so clever ears overhear

I come with a task, that much is true,

I seek justice for the innocent,

Much like you do."

The voice echoed again, this time mirthful.

"Justice he cries, this man is so bold

He's covered in blood

And his eyes are so cold.

So, bloodied man, what justice you need?

For yourself, your lover

Or your blood covered king?"

Ja'far sneered, he hated it when they brought up Sinbad. But he couldn't afford to insult or lie to this sect. not if he wanted their help.

"Not for myself, or my king do I come.

But for two children, two slaves,

I met on the run.

Tormented and tortured they have suffered so,

I want their master. Give me him,

And then I will go"

Silence filled the cavern only to be broken by cold feminine laughter.

"An act of kindness, too sweet to be true.

A bloodied man, now soft as drifting sand

I did not expect this from you

What price do you offer,

for aid in this endeavor?

A service so sweet, a proffer

So kind

Some might suspect

The loss of your mind

Ja'far coughed. He was no good at rhymes and was quickly running out of patience for the frivolous pandering.

"A bid of kindness, born of my king

To find these men we offer favor

To hear the song that they will sing."

The voice was quiet.

"Simple kindness is rarely so,

Your king was a slave once

That much we know.

And now he comes through you he bids

Is it for his sake,

Or the kids?"

Ja'far took a breath to give another complicated answer when a new deeper voice echoed through the cavern, interrupting him.

"You have our interest now

If this tale is true.

The slavers will somehow

Make their way to you."

Ja'far nodded in relief and took a firm step into the light.

"Thank you friends, for kindness unmatched

And for the birds you will dispatch"

From the highest corner of the cavern Ja'far saw the barest hint of a red cloak. A third voice followed him out of the area.

"Go on bright snake,

And slither on to your den

Find your prize at shining oxbow lake

A gift for your kings' sin"

Ja'far wasn't too far away from the cavern when he felt a sense of dread fall over him. His kings' sin- Sinbad's' sin. They knew about Sina. 'Damnitt.' Ja'far scowled as he contemplated how they could have figured it out. Then it hit him.

The hotel doctor. He was the only one outside of their group who had seen Sina's hair and was close enough to compare it to Sinbad's. And he was the one to first make the connection between the two. The doctor had to be an informant or at least somewhat connected to the sect.

Ja'far felt a reluctant swell of approval of the casually elite way the sect went about gathering information. The hotel catered to a certain high class clientele and having an agent there was quite clever. Ja'far made a mental note to place one of Sindria's own spies there after this debacle ended.

Handling the potential fallout of hiding Sina's identity would have to wait. Besides, the sect was promised a kings favor for the slavers, and they could potentially gain more by keeping their silence about Sina so the odds of them speaking out was minimal.

Ja'far made his way back to the main roads and casually slipped his Sindrian robes on and easily blended in the heavily crowded marketplace. The light-haired man slipped in front of a well to do merchant shop and began rifling through the set of fine children's clothes. "I need four sets of boys' robes." He casually jingled his heavy coin purse. The merchant, a heavyset man with an impressive combover coughed drily into a handkerchief. "Of course sir," he began lifting different robes for him to compare. "What sizes are you looking for and what fabrics would the young sirs prefer?"

Ja'far lifted a bolt of fine yellow fabric. "It is for two different boys. One is a bit smaller than the other but not by much. Two robes for each of them, one made of soft cotton and one of silk. The smaller set should be made with a blue, purple, or green over robe and plain white under robes. The other set should be the same but with yellow, maroon, or navy. Whatever colors you deem best." Ja'far pointed out one of the many designs the merchant had set out of his work. "This kind of robe will do."

The old merchant salivated at the high-quality fabric the man was demanding be used. This sale would surely set him up in luxury for a good month or so. "And how will the sir be paying for this?" he asked in a voice Ja'far assumed he thought pleasurable.

The younger man lifted his heavy coin purse. "Will Sindrian gold and silver suffice?" Ja'far twitched as the merchant relaxed happily. "Oh, well yes of course sir. It's just," the old man cast a nervous look around "If you just came from Sindria allow me to warn you sir. Not many shopkeepers are still accepting gold and silver coins."

"What do you mean?" Ja'far narrowed his eyes. "What are they trading instead?"

The merchant looked all too pleased to be telling him. Making him either an informant from the sect extending some good will, or more likely, just a gossipy old man.

"Well, sir, lately the current currency is Kou Empire Fan. But personally, I don't like it much. The value fluctuates to easily for me to trust it." The merchant scratched his order down and handed Ja'far the change he was due. "The robes will be done by the end of the day sir."

Ja'far gave a grateful nod, a bit for grateful for the information that the robes. "Thank you good sir, please send the robes to the Hotel on the canal ask for Masrur at the front desk and he will collect them."

"Yes sir, thank you for your business."


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey hey! A new chapter out and about! I think this is the longest chapter yet! The reason it took me this long to update was because I got inspired by Nakht and Sina's new outfits and decided to draw them out. You can find the link to it on my profile! Please check it out! And leave a review before you go.**

The young man spent the rest of his time slumming around the various districts of Balbadd, gathering gossip and information. A few nobles were fleeing the country with alarming speed with all their belongings and wealth (he made a mental note to deny the corrupt men acceptance into Sindria), a couple of rumors of various affairs, missing women, the issue of slave traders circling the surrounding area like vultures over a carcass. Nothing of use to him or Sindria, but it was better for him to know anyway than not.

The sun was sinking low in the sky when Ja'far slinked through the high window of the hotel hallway. Sinbad was also just arriving at the door to their rooms. The king noticed Ja'far and like always, lit up at the sight of his friend.

"Ja'far! How did it go? Are you alright?" the king's voice was casual but also heavy with his anxiousness for answers.

The advisor nodded. "We'll have our slavers by mid-morning tomorrow. Along with new robes for Sina and Nakht later today."

"Good. I noticed Nakht's shirt was badly ripped this afternoon. The guards are all prepared for our plan and will meet you at the nobles' residence just after sunset."

"Very well, a merchant should be by soon with the new robes. We should see what chaos Masrur has managed to contain."

"You know sometimes I feel a little bad for him." Sinbad chuckled, "We always give him the most difficult jobs."

"He deserves a break when we get home. Perhaps a few days off?" Ja'far suggested.

"That sounds good. Perhaps we should all have a few days off?" Sinbad wheedled.

"You wish." Ja'far deadpanned and slid the heavy door open.

The front room was quiet. The couch was blocking the full view of the table and sitting area. Masrur was sitting quietly on one of the couches and Aladdin and Morgiana were nowhere to be seen.

Sinbad and Ja'far came closer and caught Masrur's eyes. The Fanalis man looked calm and quite a bit more relaxed than either man had ever seen before. The table was covered with dirty dishes from dinner. Sinbad looked down and realized that Sina and Nakht were cuddled around the armored man's ankles and feet. Various oceanic maps were scattered about around them and Sina was pointing at small areas and looking up at Masrur for information. The large Fanalis man looked searchingly at where the boy was pointing and answered.

"That is the island of Karz, it's a holding of Balbadd. Main export is yellow carp and mini squid." Sina nodded and pushed the map to Nakht who swept his finger to the land mass on the top.

"That is Imuchakk. It's an ally of Sindria. Full of very strong people. It has a lot of snow." Sinbad thought that Masrur's explanation was a bit lack luster but it got the basic job done. The king leaned over the back of the couch to add in his commentary.

"The Imuchakk warriors are a powerful people. Not to mention giant. One of our dear friends is a member of one of the five great tribes. His name is Hinahoho."

"Hina-who who?" Sina twitched his head up at the king. Sinbad snorted and felt Ja'far snicker beside him. Hina-who who? Oh, he was definitely saving that to use later.

"His name is a bit difficult to get your tongue around but don't worry I'm sure you'll get the hang of it before you meet him." Sinbad smiled down at the boys.

"'meet him'?" Sina asked squinting suspiciously at the king. Sinbad noticed a few crumbs clinging to Sina's too thin cheeks. A part of him wanted to see them pudgy and full like how children's cheeks should be. But his unknowing son and his friend still carried the terrible thinness that slavery left with them. It was good that they could fill their stomachs now that they were in his care, but a small angry part of Sinbad hissed that he was a terrible father for allowing his son to suffer. Even if he didn't know about Sina, it was no excuse. But being angry wouldn't benefit Sina now and wouldn't wash away the hurt he had to experience. All he could do was try to be the best father he could, and insure that Sina's life from this point on was better. Sinbad could push away that angry dissatisfied part of himself and focus on his son now.

The calm faced king leaned casually against the back of the couch so that he could peer down at the children. "He lives in Sindria along with his family. After we leave Balbadd we're going back home."

"Can Sina and I come too?" Nakht perked up with a delightful smile, a bit of fruit juice was clinging to his chin.

Ja'far made a clucking noise and pulled a handkerchief out of a small pocket in his sleeve. Sinbad watched, amused as his advisor and most deadly assassin made his way around the couch to fret over the two boys and their messy faces. Sinbad was glad that there was someone else for Ja'far to be a mother hen over. For a deadly assassin, he was surprisingly adept at behaving motherly. It brought a smile to Sinbad's face at the sight of his son wriggling away from the deadly handkerchief Ja'far was wielding. Sina tried distracting the freckled man by smashing a white grape on his cheek. Ja'far made a wounded squeak at the sticky attack, but finished scrubbing the boys own sticky cheeks before attending to his own mess.

Sinbad and Masrur chuckled at the sight of Ja'far being bested (if only a little bit) by such a small child. The group of them all laughed at the humorous sight.

A knock on the door distracted them. Sinbad was the closest to the door, so he answered it. It was a comely looking made who flushed hotly at the sight of him. Sinbad gave her a charming smile; it always did his ego good to have women swoon over him. "Um, sirs, a merchant is in the lobby looking for a man called Masrur? I was told he was in this room."

"Ah those are the clothes I requested." Ja'far clucked getting up from his kneeling position by the boys. Wiping the grape juice from his cheek and tucking the sticky handkerchief away. The maids' eyes darted to look who was speaking and she suddenly blushed even more furiously. "Oh! Um, I'm so sorry for intruding!" and before Sinbad could stop her, she dashed down the hallway.

"What was that about?" Sinbad looked over his shoulder to see what flustered her so. It took a moment before he got it.

From her position at the door she couldn't see Sina or Nakht on the floor with their maps. The couch blocked her view. All she could see was Masrur sitting on the couch relaxed and then Ja'far standing from a lower position in front of him with a handkerchief wiping his mouth.

Sinbad hacked out a thunderous burst of chuckles and held the doorframe to keep himself from tumbling down.

"Sin, what's so funny?" Ja'far queried.

"N-nothing!" the king was trying to catch his breath. "But you and Masrur might be catching some of the maids stares after tonight."

"Wha? Never mind that. Masrur could you go and fetch the packages while I get Sina and Nakht into the bath? They are covered head to toe in filth."

"Hey! We're not that dirty!" Sina defended, sounding indignant.

"That's right Mister Ja'far, we had our bath last month." Nakht didn't whine but seemed just as reluctant to be in the tub.

Ja'far blanched in disgust, swiftly he ducked down and tried to capture Sina in his arms. The tiny purplet tried to scramble away by climbing up the couch and leaping off the back of the couch. Sinbad caught the little boy midfall and grinned down at his cute pout.

"Let go! No way do I need a bath! I'm fine!" Sina struggled as Sinbad passed him off to Ja'far. While Ja'far had Sina tucked in his arms he simply held Nakht's hand. It was obvious that while Sina would fight against any attempt to clean him, Nakht was the more passive child and simply obey their requests.

Ja'far took the children into the bathing chambers and Masrur left the room too, leaving Sinbad to sink down into the soft cushions of the couch and take a few moments to think. The faint sounds of splashing and squeals from behind the bathroom door didn't distract him too much. He tilted his head back on the edge of the couch and let the light from outside guide his thought. The sun was just beginning to set and the hotel room was bathed in warm, red, light.

It had been the first time today that he had time to fully think about everything. It's hard to believe that he had just met his son early this morning. The idea washed over Sinbad like a wave. A son, he had a son. he tried to imagine how his people would react to the news. The revelation that Sindria now had a prince, that Sinbad had an heir and his linage was secure. He didn't doubt that they would be happy. He thought about how his generals and advisors would respond too, along with the various enemies he gathered around the world. But the person he was most anxious to tell was Sina himself.

Sinbad knew that he couldn't reveal himself to be Sina's father until after the danger in Balbadd passes. As much as he yearned to tell him, Sina was only seven, he could blurt out that information to the wrong people and who knows what could happen then. Or he could be angry and run away, falling back into the hands of the slave traders that circled the city. He couldn't allow that to happen. And Sinbad didn't want to walk into the situation blind either, until he interrogated the Slave traders and discovered the true extent of abuse his son endured (and take a bit more than a pound of flesh for his sake) he couldn't afford to blunder into a lack luster explanation.

He only had one chance to be a good father after all. And as much as Ja'far nagged him about not thinking things through (and to be honest, he didn't think about things as much as he should) he didn't want to take the chance of Sina hating and rejecting him as a father.

The safest option Sinbad had was to wait until they were on the ship back to Sindria and tell him there. On a ship, Sina wouldn't be able to run into danger.

While Sinbad was thinking Ja'far came out of the bathing chambers. His turban was askew and this robes were soaked along the bottom hem. Sinbad couldn't help but poke fun at him. "Didn't you say the children were the ones who needed a bath?"

Ja'far gave him a dry look. "Shut up." He collapsed next to Sinbad on the couch. "It was mostly Sina making a fuss anyway. He didn't want any help even though he was literally caked in filth. He insisted on sitting in a separate tub than Nakht. He said the last person he had a bath with was a peeping mermaid and a golden egg." Ja'far chuckled.

Sinbad joined him. "He certainly has a fanciful imagination, doesn't he?"

Ja'far rubbed his forehead and groaned. "Maybe he'll write fantasy stories as well as you do."

"Hey! All my novels are real! Completely accurate and true!" Sinbad whined as Ja'far rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, as you say my king." The advisor used his soggy sleeves to cover his smirk.

"I know sarcasm when I hear it Ja'far!" Sinbad pouted.

The door opened behind them. The two men twisted their heads to look at Masrur come in with a set of bundles in his arms. Ja'far lifted himself off of the couch took the packages out of the Fanalis' hands.

"Ah, Masrur good. Let's give them to the boys to try on." Ja'far took the wrapped robes to the bathing chambers and ducked inside.

Masrur took a seat next to Sinbad. "Aladdin and Morgiana are waiting for us in the lobby. The sun is setting."

"Understood. We'll put the boys to bed and then go." Sinbad crossed his arms. The two men sat in silence for a while.

The door of the bathing chambers opened. Sina and Nakht were nudged forward by Ja'far.

Sina had his head covered by a dark sea green turban with a blue ribbon securing it. A blue cotton tunic with a bronze clasp on the hip. A light green wrap was twisted around his waist. His legs were covered in a pair of soft linen pants and dark slippers. Ja'far even managed to get him a pair of bronze bangles.

Nakht was wrapped in a deep maroon robe with stiff golden buttons and a forest green fabric belt both made of thick cotton. He had a pair of similar pants and equally dark slippers. A new green binding replaced his old rough leather tie.

Both boys' cheeks were scrubbed pink and their hair was soft and still a bit damp. Nakht was flushed and nervous looking while Sina looked defiant and cranky. he scowled up at the adults while Nakht shuffled behind him like a skittish cat.

Sinbad kneeled to face the boys. "Well now the two of you don't look like dust monsters." He smiled.

"Thank you Mister Sinbad." Nakht mumbled behind his friend. Sina pouted and Sinbad could barely resist cooing. He looked so embarrassed but was hiding it with a furious little pout.

"Thanks old man." Sina grumped.

Sinbad sighed and ruffled the boy's head, knocking his turban to the side. "You know that almost sounded nice, Sina." he chuckled while the boy fixed his headpiece and tsked at him.

Ja'far paced to the door. "I'm glad to see that the Merchant got your sizes correct. But it is bedtime. There are additional sleeping robes inside of the bedroom. It's late, so go on now."

Nakht nodded and walked toward the room. Sina stood still. The dark-skinned boy looked back in concern. "Sina, let's go." He reached back and tugged on his friends' hand. "I want to go with you." Sina demanded.

Ja'far shook his head. "We already talked about this Sina. That's not happening. You will be staying at the hotel tonight and we will see you in the morning."

"That's not fair! It's my plan! I need to be there!" the boy stomped his feet petulantly.

Ja'far sighed exasperated and stared at the ceiling. "Sinbad, you tell him." Ja'far threw him a look that plainly said 'it's your son, you deal with it.'

The King of Sindria look comically overwhelmed but he reached over and picked the boy up with a squeal. "Let me down, Old Bastard!"

"Shush. It's bedtime and that is nonnegotiable. Nakht go on to bed. I have to talk to Sina." the copper eyed boy looked nervous but obediently went inside.

Sinbad sat Sina on the couch and kneeled in front of him. "Sina, I want you to calm down and look at me." Sinbad kept his voice slow and low.

Sina stopped wriggling away from him and green eyes met amber.

"Ja'far, Masrur, Morgiana, Aladdin, and I are going to face dangerous people tonight. And we might be fighting a small army of thieves and bandits. We can't focus on them if we're worried about you. If we brought you with us, I'd be more worried about protecting you than stopping them. And if you snuck out, like I know you're planning to," With that he gave the now guilty looking boy a deep stare. "you'd probably get lost or caught by the many slave traders that are still circling the city. If that happened, then Nakht would be left all alone. Do you want that?"

"…no."

"Good. Now I need you to be here with Nakht. He needs you to be here to protect him. Can you do that for me."

"…Fine. Old man." Sina nodded unhappily and let Sinbad push him into the bedroom.

Ja'far waited until he, Masrur, and Sinbad were nearly to the lobby before he commented. "Nicely done, Sinbad."

The king looked a bit pleased. "He's a lot like I was at that age. Trying to be brave and acting like a man. I just used what would have worked on me at that age."

"That's very wise." Masrur complimented him as his red eyes caught sight of Aladdin waving at them from the front entrance.

"Yes, but let's focus on the Fog troupe for now." Ja'far insisted.

"You're right. Let's catch ourselves some thieves tonight." Sinbad gave his brightest grin and led the small group out into the streets of Balbadd. The last light of day escaping from sight.

 **Ok, the latest chapter is complete! If you are as excited as I am about this story I know you're happy about this!**

 **Please check out my fanart for this story and I invite you to make your own. Also, please leave a review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Oh, Christmas time, Oh Christmas Time! Oh, how I dearly love you! Christmas is coming, so yippy Skippy do! I'm so happy! Of course, Christmas day I have to drive** _ **Eight**_ **whole** **hours,** **but that's what you do, you know? Hahahaha….Hahaha…haha..ha… oh god this is gonna hurt. Christmas traffic all day…ugh…why do I do this to myself?**

 **But never mind all that, the Christmas spirit is strong with this one so I shall endure. Yay!**

 **Be Merry My Fellow Fanfiction comrades! It is that special time of year to have joy and bring good tidings! I have brought a super long chapter for your enjoyment! Happy Holidays!**

The dense fog from the canal shimmered in the moonlight. It curled and swirled in the cold night air. Sinbad shivered as the cold ocean breeze swept over him. "Brr. It gets so cold at night." he complained.

Masrur gave him a bored look. "Yes it does." He held the only lantern they had with them and took a few steps away from his whining king.

"Hey, idiot don't move!" Sinbad pressed up against his friend's back and used the Fanalis to hide away from the wind. Masrur shoved a thick arm back to push his king away and grumbled. "Please don't use me as a windshield."

The two men pushed and shoved against each other in the darkened alley. The mansion they were guarding had thick marble walls and huge bronze lion statues mounted at each entrance. Thin light filtered from the high windows.

"Hey you two down there quit all your jawing and watch this place properly. I only got two guards cause the military is shorthanded. I'm so anxious I can't even eat my dinner!" The rich merchant was disgustingly obese with thick body hair and a nasty look in his eye. He had a thick chicken leg in his pudgy grip and grease dripped down his thick chins.

Two young women were eclipsed behind him. They looked disgusted but resigned to their company. Sinbad guessed that the pretty women have recently tried to circumvent the general poverty of Balbadd by turning to prostitution. They haven't quite perfected the prostitutes' façade yet. A small flush of pity rose in him at the young girls unfavorable company. He certainly wouldn't want to be in their place.

"…he's still eating" Masrur deadpanned, staring up at the window. He was not impressed with the fat man's demands.

"He's privileged alright." Sinbad rubbed his arms against the chill. Ignoring the irony of a king saying such a statement.

A clatter behind them drew their attention. From the dense fog, a figure appeared. Sinbad and Masrur tensed but the fog revealed a disheveled woman staggering toward them, clutching a bundle of cloth to her chest.

She stumbled forward and Sinbad reached his arms out to catch her. "Hey? Are you alright? Do you need help?" he felt her boney shoulders cut into his forearms.

A snick of a blade gave Sinbad enough warning to drop his arms and leap back. "What the heck!" Sinbad yelped in surprise.

After the failed attack, the woman staggered passed them and fell to her knees. The fog dispersed to reveal that the two men were surrounded by a group of bedraggled citizens. Each carried a makeshift weapon; A shovel, a broken oar, a few half-rusted kitchen knives and chipped swords. They all were malnourished and covered by dirty ripped rags. Their eyes were dead, desperate, and most had a crazed gleam in it. Their limbs were boney and folds of skin hung off of them in disgusting consistency. The first woman dragged herself back to her feet and faced Masrur and Sinbad. She brandished her knife at them defiantly.

"I have nothing," She muttered, "No milk to give him," Her voice gained strength "I need food. No matter what it takes. If you try to stop me…" she ended on a scream, "I KILL YOU!" her eyes were wild and desperate.

Sinbad's eyes latched on the bundle she was clutching to her chest. One tiny twig like arm dangled out of it. Sinbad felt the blood drain from his face and a stone hand clenched around his heart. His brain shuttered and his breath stopped. This mob wasn't the Fog troupe. These were the common people of Balbadd. These people were what was left of the country his friend Rashid had ruled.

A voice from above broke him out of his horror filled revelation.

It was the ugly fat merchant. "Mongrels from the slums, huh? Pitiful," he tossed his half gnawed chicken leg out of the window to the crowd, "Take this and go away."

The peasant woman gasped at the sight of food. She scrambled to get to the scraps before the others, falling to her knees with one hand reaching outstretched to the half-eaten food.

Suddenly, Sinbad slapped her hand away and held it securely with one arm looped around her narrow shoulders. "There's no need for you to do that." He comforted her. "Remember he's only wealthy from your taxes," the woman stood, the rest of the crowd came closer to Sinbad and stared at him with wide desperate eyes. "and if you don't believe it's worth paying then take back as much as you want. But don't take any lives." The crowd nodded and scurried away toward the mansion.

Sinbad gave one more glance back at the tiny woman with the baby. She didn't spare him a backward glance as she darted into the estate, eager to get some food from inside. The king turned his back on the mansion and walked passed Masrur who stared at him. "You sure?" the Fanalis asked.

"We only made one promise, and that was to find and capture the fog troupe." Sinbad look mournfully up at the sky. The moon was full. "This country may already be a lost cause."

He thought of all the hard work and the years of effort King Rashid had put into making Balbadd a prosperous and peaceful nation. And how after only a few years of his absence had torn it all away. Thoughts of his own country filled his head. And Sinbad, for the first time thought about what his people would do, if he died. Who would they depend on? Who would lead and protect them and their interests? Rashid had two sons, two heirs that he entrusted with the future of his country and they had failed him. Sinbad vowed to leave a better future for his people. He would not allow Sindria to fall to the way of Balbadd.

The moon rested far above the coastal city. The peaks of the tallest buildings gently relinquished the warmth captured from the day. The waves of heat escaping to the sky made it seem as if the stars were swaying to and fro.

On the other side of the capital city, Sina stared out to the stars from the window of the hotel room. Nakht was nearby, cuddled with one of the many pillows that covered the bed. The tan boy was sleeping better than he had in years. He fell asleep mumbling about how the bed was the most comfortable thing he ever felt in his life.

Sina watched over his friend. His best friend. For who else could this kindly boy be? Nakht had tried his best to protect Sina from Fatima whenever his temper flared. Had taught him the ins and outs of the desert base. Had the strength of character to retain compassion in the most difficult of situations. Nakht was Sina's best friend. That was all he had now.

He had Ron and Hermione in the before. And of course, nothing and no one could replace them. But they were gone and Sina knew that he had to move on. He wasn't Harry Potter anymore. Harry Potter had died before his eighteenth birthday. Harry Potter would never finish school. Harry Potter had died in the middle of a war. Harry Potter was gone, he was Sina now.

Sina wasn't a war veteran. Sina wasn't a wizard. Sina didn't have a wand, or a broomstick, or anything that Harry had. Sina was the seven year old son of a whore. Sina was a former slave. Sina was Nakht's best friend. He wouldn't survive in this world by being Harry. Harry couldn't even survive in his own reality. He had to be better this time. Smarter, more cunning, cleverer and stronger. Because he hadn't succeeded as Harry. He had died. And yes, his death meant that Voldemort would die too, but that wasn't good enough. So many people had suffered and died before he finally managed to get that far. Sina knew it was more than a little arrogant to think he could save everyone. Hermione would have called it his 'saving people thing' but, many that was a little bit ok here. Because in this world he wasn't trying to save everybody. His top priority would be those closest to him. And right now, that was Nakht. And maybe Morgiana and Aladdin too. He wouldn't consider Sinbad, Ja'far, and Masrur close until he knew what exactly their intentions were.

The small purplet readjusted in his seat. From the high window of the hotel he could stare out onto the rolling clouds of fog creeping through the city. It was a pale specter that swept through the city. It carried the scent of the sea and the chill of the deserts night. But the chill could not reach him this high up. The sandstone that made the hotel still clung onto the heat of the day. He and Nakht would be warm and safe in this room.

Sina's brow furrowed as he thought a bit more on that. It was more than a bit strange that a random chance meeting with a naked man would result in them staying in the finest hotel in the country. And that the random naked man would end up being a King of a foreign nation? Sina was more than a bit suspicious on how far the King Sinbad's kindness would stretch for two former slave children with nothing of note to offer him and his country. Especially when one slave made a point to undermine and insult him at every turn.

Sina knew that his constant needling Sinbad made Nakht dizzy with anxiousness, the younger boy was worried that Sina would push to far and they would be punished, but he just couldn't help it. It seemed like the man known as Sinbad was an ocean of compassion and kindness. Nothing Sina did or said angered him in anyway.

He didn't trust it. No adult was that kind to a child that wasn't theirs

Every adult he had come across as Sina and even most of the adults he knew as Harry Potter wanted to use him or was needlessly cruel to him. With only a few glaring exceptions like Molly Weasley, Madam Pomphrey, and Professor McGonagall. Even Sirius, for all that he loved him, had rare moments where he saw Harry as little more than the shadow of James Potter. It seemed that just about every adult in both Sina and Harry's lives was an utter disappointment to the boy.

Sina believed it was only a matter of time before the King and his friends got tired of their kindly charade and showed their true colors. It was more than a little suspicious that Aladdin and Morgiana got their own private rooms, while Sina and Nakht were staying in the adults' extra bedroom. Maybe they were involved in the slave trade, or wanted to use the boys as decoys or bargaining chips in their fight against the fog troupe? That, was one reason why Sina insisted on being a part of the planning and why he wanted to join the fighting, for all the good it did him.

Sina quietly asked Nakht what he thought about the men but the silver haired boy had only the best impression of the adults and nearly praised them onto divine levels. Sina couldn't blame him though. For a child who had known nothing but punishment and cruelty at the hands of adults, meeting ones that seemed so nice, must be like meeting some sort of benevolent gods. Even he was a little taken in by the generosity shown. If he hadn't retained his memories of Harry Potter than he too would undoubtedly be blinded by the apparent goodness of these men.

But there wasn't anything for him to do at this point beyond remaining alert and standing guard over Nakht. He wouldn't allow anything to take his dearest friend in this life.

No…he wouldn't let Nakht suffer any more of this world's harshness.

Sinbad followed Masrur to the secondary sight. They were following the sound of a huge explosion. As they entered the courtyard Sinbad gaped at the sheer destruction of the area. Guards were flung haphazardly on the ground and the outer wall was nothing more than a gaping hole. Sinbad rushed ahead and began searching for survivors.

"Ja'far! Aladdin! Morgiana! Are you there? Ja'far!?"

A grumble from the left answered him. "Yes Sin, we're all alright." It was Ja'far. The petite man was resting against the side wall. The wall shielded Ja'far from the morning light shining in the area. Morgiana was sitting next to him waving a hand in front of a despondent Aladdin. The tiny magi had a strange expression on and his eyes were shakenly blank. Sinbad gave Ja'far a concerned look and tilted his head toward the young boy. Ja'far shook his head and mouth 'later' at his king.

After insuring everyone was in relatively good health Sinbad and Masrur joined in on the examination of the battle sight. Ja'far quietly explained what happened during the night and the revelations that they met with.

Sinbad was not pleased with the news. "-But still whoever thought there would be a dungeon capturer in the Fog troupe. Not to mention Aladdin's dear friend. Just who is this Alibaba the Wonder?" He wondered aloud, not noticing Morgiana subtly sniffing the area for a certain scent.

Masrur, who did notice, chose not to say anything. It wasn't his business what the girl did.

After the various guards were roused and treated for their minor injuries, Sinbad led the group back to the hotel, the tanned king kept a steady hand on the still shell shocked magi.

The hotel was bustling with gossip when they returned. It seemed everyone had heard of the attack and 'peasant riots' in the merchant district. Many nobles thought it safer to relocate to the luxury hotel than risk remaining in their own homes.

As they walked through the lobby Ja'far kept a steady commentary whispered in Sinbad's ear. "Many nobles are fleeing the capital, taking all of the gold and silver they can smuggle out with them. The smart ones are leaving in ships just beyond the coast. The less intelligent are taking the desert roads and don't last very long with all the bandits and slave traders."

"Interesting…and speaking of slave traders…" Sinbad mumbled, eyeing Ja'far significantly.

"I'll collect our package along with Masrur, after we check that Sina and Nakht have breakfast." Ja'far promised. Masrur nodded subtly next to them in agreement.

"I can handle breakfast by myself." Sinbad pouted.

"With Sina's attitude and Aladdin's melancholy? All by yourself? Are you sure?"

"…fine."

Sinbad turned to Morgiana and Aladdin in front of the room. "We're gonna be quiet incase Nakht and Sina are still sleeping, Ok?"

"Yes." Morgiana nodded obediently and normally talkative Aladdin was still painfully stoic, "…Kay."

The five of them all entered the hotel room quietly. Morgiana and Aladdin sat on the couch and Masrur took a seat on the other side from them.

Ja'far and Sinbad both went to the bedroom and carefully eased the door open. They peeked in and instantly melted with highly unmanly coos. (though neither of them would ever admit to doing so.)

Nakht was curled sweetly amidst the multitude of pillows on the bed, his snowy hair spread around him loosely like a halo. Sina was propped against the window frame cuddled with a small pillow, snoring softly, the morning sunlight made his violet hair shimmer.

"It seems Sina was up late waiting for us last night." Ja'far whispered to Sinbad. His grey eyes were soft at the sight of the two boys.

Sinbad felt a warm flutter in his chest. Sina was concerned for them, for him. It was a very pleasing feeling. "I see. I'll wake Sina, could you get Nakht."

Ja'far nodded. "Of course," The young advisor went to the bed and Sinbad approached the window.

"Sina…Sina, time to wake up." This time Sinbad kept a small distance from the young boy, weary of flailing limbs. (See, I do learn from my mistakes Ja'far!) The smaller boy woke up with a snort and disgruntled bleary glare at Sinbad. "ugh, Wha? What do you want bastard?" he groaned, rubbing his sleepy encrusted eyes.

"Good morning to you too, Sina. It's time for breakfast so let's get up and get dressed." Sinbad kept the smile on his face despite Sina's bad mood. 'He must not be a morning person.' Sinbad thought indulgently. Nakht was groggy and uncoordinated as he stumbled out of bed.

"We'll be outside with the others. just come out when your dressed, ok boys?" Sinbad told the boys from the doorway. Sina grumbled at him, tugging the green robe from before out of the dresser drawer. "Yeah yeah, just go old man." And the door shut behind the two adults.

"…Ja'far?" Sinbad turned to his friend as they walked to the central room, his tone strange and purposefully nonchalant.

"Yes my king?" Ja'far flicked a watchful eye on him.

"I decided not to tell Sina the truth until we are on route to Sindria." Sinbad declared. "So be discrete and make sure you tell Masrur as well."

"I understand. I'll tell him when we fetch the traders." Ja'far said, his voice decidedly nonjudgmental. There were times when Sinbad needed his council on matters and times when he didn't. Ja'far knew this was not one of those times he needed to speak his mind.

"So, within the hour." Sinbad impressed, a glint of steel in his golden eyes.

"Yes. Within the hour." Ja'far confirmed. Knowing how eager his king was for revenge on his sons' behalf.

"Good."

Then the two men entered the central room with calm smiles. Neither Morgiana nor Aladdin notice how bloodthirsty their eyes were behind those smiles.

 **Ok whoa that took so long to write! The reason it took almost a month for me to update (and so sorry about that you guys) was because I had finals and whatnot. Btw I passed everything! Yay!**

 **The meeting of Sinbad and Fatima will be in the next chapter so get ready for angry dad rage! Yippy! If you don't know the reason why the meeting is so significant, you better buckle up because they got some history to dish out! Whoa!**

 **So total excitement, stay tuned!**

 **So, Happy Holidays and Joyous Salutations my friends! Leave a review if you please!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Okay loves I know it has been a super long time, but I am here! And I present to you the longest chapter I have ever written. I thought about breaking it into chunky smaller chapters but then I remembered that you've been waiting so very long and decided to just give it to you in one big full course meal!**

 **There is some graphically implied and not so implied violence toward the end so if you get queasy just tap out, ok?**

 **Anyway, let's begin!**

Breakfast was a quiet affair that morning. Sinbad noticed that Sina was watching the adults warily while he and Nakht tried to tug the unusually quiet Aladdin into conversation. It was obvious that the little purplet at least partially blamed them for the Magi's behavior. 'At least,' Sinbad thought resigned, 'that's what his glare suggests.'

The fare that morning was a delectable array of fruit pastries, fresh eggs, smoked fish, and warm toast. Sinbad fought a small smile as he watched Nakht subtly avoid the fish and Sina (not nearly so subtle) sneak it back onto his plate. Aladdin nibbled absently on toast as Morgiana tried to convince him to eat more. Sinbad was not surprised to see the older girl take so easily to caregiving. It was after all in a woman's nature to care for others, and even a Fanalis woman was still a woman.

After breakfast Morgiana and Aladdin returned to their rooms to catch up on their sleep. Ja'far and Masrur left to obtain the package promised by the information guild of Balbadd. This left Sinbad with a wide-awake pair of boys, one of whom was calm and admittedly easy to care for, and another that was not so easy to care for.

Sina glared at Sinbad as the king read a smattering of administrative reports Ja'far forced on him. He didn't really bother to hide the documents as he knew neither of the boys could read. He handed them a few blank sheets of paper and some charcoal sticks to amuse themselves while he worked. Nakht was happy enough to spend a lazy day in the hotel and sat by the window to use the fresh sunlight for his artwork. And Sina sat on the floor in front of the couch across from Sinbad, his papers were scattered on the table and his charcoal sticks were left untouched as he watched the older man. Sinbad did his best to ignore the passive aggression his son showed and valiantly read the reports.

Still the little boy stared at him.

Sinbad tried not to show how unnerving Sina's stare was. He hummed lightly as he read the documents. A casino on the west side wanted to expand its property, but the land they requested was currently set aside for construction of a new orphanage. Ja'far wanted to have his decision on the matter sooner rather than later but Sinbad was conflicted.

On one hand, the Casino was the most profitable in the country and the annual gaming tax the treasury received from them would increase if they expanded. But on the other hand, he had already agreed to place the orphanage on the land promised. It was a difficult decision to consider and he was frankly stumped on how to solve it. If he allowed the casino the land, the orphans who be sheltered on the west side of the island where most of the unstable cliffs were, rather than the east where the beaches lay. And if he refused the casino they might renegotiate the gaming tax or pull up their business altogether and deprive Sindria of one of its most profitable tourist attractions.

And this entire problem was exasperated by the fact that Sina was still _staring_ at him.

Nakht was on the other side of the room playing with a few blank sheets of paper, folding them in various shapes. While his son was staring blatantly up at him from the other side of the table. His butt planted on the floor and his chin resting on the table, Sina's emerald eyes were determinedly trying to burn a hole in Sinbad's head. He had no true expression on his face, just that unnerving stare.

Sinbad tried not to let it get to him. He kept his own eyes firmly on the documents. But he couldn't concentrate on the words. he felt the sentences slip away as Sina's eyes bore into him. It felt like he was in an interrogation or back under the unyielding judgement of a Djinn during a Kings candidate trial.

He had to do something. But what?

The King of Sindria looked around the room, there were no toys, there were books, but Sina didn't know how to read yet, he had just woken up so he couldn't send him off to nap, what in the world was he supposed to do?!

He looked up from the documents and met Sina's eyes. Gold clashed into Emerald as the two met eyes. Sinbad looked at his son's unblinking stare and was instantly aware of what was happening.

It was intimidation. Sina was trying to unnerve him. Trying to irritate him or make him react. That's what he had been doing this whole time.

Every time he had called him 'old man' or been stubborn. Every time he had given Sinbad attitude. When he kicked him in his face, when he snapped at him, it was all done to push Sinbad into reacting.

It was obvious that Sina had very poor experience with adults. He wasn't snappy at Aladdin or Morgiana, and even Masrur didn't catch as much flack as Sinbad did. It had to be because Sina pegged him as the leader of the group. The 'Master' so to speak. He was pushing Sinbad's limits to see how far he could go before Sinbad punished him.

To be honest it was more than a little sad. But it was also very endearing as Sinbad thought back on all of Sina's behavior. He never snarked at Sinbad when Nakht was within arm's reach. He only made his comments when Nakht was behind Masrur or farther away from Sinbad then he was. It was clear that he was using himself as not only a measurer of Sinbad's tolerance, but also as a shield for Nakht.

Sinbad thought of the complicated thought process that this required. In addition to the detailed plan Sina arranged for the Fog troupe last night; it was possible that his son was a genius.

He recalled hearing once that the second prince of the Kou empire, Prince Koumei, was known as a genius of battle strategies and internal politics. And that he was an impressive general and dungeon capturer who was a vital part of the Kou Empires court actions. It was said that this genius prince could easily take control of the entire country but for his loyalty to his eldest brother, Prince Kouen. If Sina possessed half of the lauded intelligence touted by the Kou prince, then the first prince of Sindria would be a magnificent addition to his country! But Sinbad needed to figure out how to test him? And how to do it so Sina ceases to see him as a threat? He had to find a way; a test, that would ease Sina's concerns about Sinbad and tell him exactly how smart his son was.

The king relinquished to his son's stare and let his eyes drift back to the set of documents on the table. The documents! That's perfect! Sinbad thought scooting forward and leaning closer toward his son.

Sina looked weary at the suddenly eager expression on Sinbad's face. The little boy stiffened at the careless grin he was given.

"Sina, can I ask your help with something?" Sinbad asked with a winning smile.

"…you can ask…" Sina rolled moved from sitting flat to a crouch, a slight shift in his body language told Sinbad that he was right about Sina being defensive and not just bratty.

"Ja'far left me some situational reports and there is this one that has me stumped. I've been thinking about it for a while so I'm in a bit of a rut, could you look at it, and tell me what you would do if you were in my shoes?"

"Why do you care what I would do? I'm just some kid." Sina said this but he still edged forward to look over the documents he couldn't read.

"A king must allow knowledge to reach him, no matter where it comes from. And your youth gives you a different perspective than I have. I would really like to hear what you have to say about this?" Sinbad said. He wanted to instill some kingly advice in his son. Sina was the future king of Sindria, though he doesn't know it yet. And making sure his son was open to advice and assistance from various sources was important. His son was already weary of others and that was good to a certain extent, but he couldn't allow his son to become anything like Ahbmad; insular, selfish, and cruel. He didn't want Sina to become oblivious to his own peoples' troubles. This would be a good indicator of how Sinbad should handle his diplomatic education in the future.

Sinbad shuffled the papers in front of Sina and explained the situation. "There is a very popular casino on the island that wants to expand its property; however, the land they wish to expand on has already been set aside for a new orphanage. The casino owner wants to move the orphanage to the other side of the island where there is available land. Unfortunately, the only available land overlooks a set of unstable cliffs that isn't suitable for children to be around. I want to find a way to keep my word to the matron of the orphanage about the new building, but I also don't want to offend the casino owner into leaving the island."

Sina took a long moment to think about the problem. He even snatched the papers out of Sinbad's hands to stare at them. Not that he could read them, but Sinbad thought it was cute how his son tried stalling him to collect his thoughts.

Finally, after a long silence, Sina voiced his opinion.

"I say keep your word to the orphanage above all else. A king who chooses gambling over homeless children is not a good king. No matter what else you do, people will still say you're a greedy man for years if you pick the casino over the orphans. You should give the orphanage the land you promised but give the casino some incentive to stay. Convince them to build up and not out, maybe?"

"Up?" Sinbad questioned.

"Yeah, have them build a second story or put a pool on the rooftops. Tell them to make it an exclusive offer to VIP guests so that they can drum up some extra tourism for the whole island. The increased profits the casino makes will keep them satisfied and they won't want to leave."

Sinbad thought about the proposal for a long moment. He couldn't find any obvious fault in Sina's plan. It was really ingenious, especially coming from a seven-year-old. A swell of fatherly pride made his chest puff up slightly.

"That is perfect Sina. I couldn't have thought of a better solution myself. Do you want to help me with the next document?" Sinbad asked with a quirky grin.

The boy nodded with only a little hesitation, his usual scowl absent. "Sure, I can help."

Father and son leaned over the next page of issues with twin masks of determination. Eager to get to the next problem.

Nakht stared at them from his spot near the window. His mouth agape as it hit him just how similar the two before him were. Hints and clues came tumbling together to form quite the picture in front of him. The silver-haired boys' lips twitched as he pieced the secret together. But he didn't say anything, he couldn't. Nakht simply couldn't bring himself to disturb the idyllic peace that had finally come over the two purplets before him.

A few quiet hours slinked by with the pair quietly hashing out ideas on different situations around Sindria, while Nakht watched them avidly (he didn't understand most of what they were talking about but it was entertaining to watch them debate). After the morning slinked by and Sinbad was just beginning to think about lunch, Ja'far came back.

The young assassin paused in the doorway to take in the sight. Sinbad and Sina were not sitting on the couch but crouched close to the table with a mess of papers before them. Nakht was sitting on the couch but he was just staring at the pair. Both father and son had their heads close together, different strands of purple intermingling. It was easy to see now that while they did have mostly identical colors, Sina's was darker, messier, and had a fair few more split ends. But they meshed well and Ja'far was relieved to see father and son getting along.

Sinbad's head lifted with Ja'far's entrance. His golden eyes gleamed with anticipation. Ja'far nodded to his kings' unasked question but didn't say anything infront of the boys. Sina's own gemstone colored eyes lifted too but- after seeing it was just Ja'far- returned to the documents scattered on the table. Nakht twisted around to peer over the couch at Ja'far but also turned around after giving the assassin a shy greeting.

Masrur entered behind Ja'far, and his welcome was a bit warmer from the two boys. Making Ja'far pout a little.

"Masrur!" Nakht squeaked from his seat after noticing the Fanalis. Sina's head darted up with Nakht's cry and he too gave a enthused greeting. "Masrur, Welcome back! Come over here, I want to run this by you." Masrur nodded his returns to the boys and went along with Sina's demand to join him. Nakht scurried from his seat to skootch closer to the new duo.

Sinbad stood and left the group to join Ja'far near the door. He could hear Sina asking Masrur's opinion on different ecology issues from around the island. "Sinbad said that the Papagoras birds like you best; And well, this floral shop wants to plant the Redbream flower in their outer garden on the south side of the island, but the petals are poisonous. I think we should tell the shop no Redbreams 'cause the birds could eat them and get sick, but he wasn't sure they would eat them. I wanna know what you think 'cause…"

Ja'far was pouting when Sinbad joined him. The two boys were so occupied with Masrur's quiet explanation that the Papagoras birds don't eat flower petals, that Sinbad felt safe enough to discuss the trader situation with him, so long as they were quiet.

"Do we have our gift from the sect?" Sinbad asked.

Ja'far ceased his pouting long enough to answer. "Yes, Masrur and I picked him up outside the city, on the Oxbow just like instructed. We took him to a secure area that is isolated enough that no one will be suspicious of any unusual noise. We can go whenever you want."

"Excellent. We can leave Masrur with the boys while we handle our guest."

Ja'far looked uncomfortable for a moment. "Ja'far?" Sinbad questioned.

"I don't think that Masrur will be left behind."

"What happened?" Sinbad asked.

"One of the Sect was waiting with the gift. he let us both know that the trader was infamous for torturing his slaves and forcing bastardized gladiator fights between the weak, young, or sickly slaves, with the livestock he sold to the Reim colosseum. It hit Masrur hard and he's more than a bit eager to show the trader how a real gladiator fights. Plus, you've seen how close he's gotten to Sina and Nakht; he's as invested in getting justice for them as we are." The grey eyed man quietly explained.

"Alright then, but we can't just leave the boys by themselves. Who knows what mischief they'd get into?" Sinbad looked helpless at the lack of adult supervision available.

"What about Morgiana and Aladdin? It's almost lunchtime, We could let them go and have lunch at Cantin's." Ja'far suggested a popular high class restaurant that had at least three Sindria spy agents in the kitchen and on the wait staff.

"That could work, so long as they don't wander anywhere else." Sinbad conceded, still uncertain about leaving his son unsupervised.

"Then it's decided. Are you ready to go?" Ja'far asked.

"Yes, just let me grab-"Sinbad turned back to face the room. Masrur was crouched over the short table with Sina perched in his lap gesturing to the papers scattered about and Nakht had clambered from the couch to hang over his shoulders using one hand to point out his paper artwork and the other to grip tightly onto Masrur's bright locks. The Fanalis didn't seem to mind the small boys forcibly occupying his space. It was honestly the most content Sinbad had seen him in years, but they had to go.

"Let's…let's give them a few more minutes." Sinbad said, golden eyes gentling.

"Sounds fair." Ja'far nodded, as always grateful and just a bit surprised at how compassionate Sinbad could be.

After leaving the boys with Morgiana and Aladdin and leaving her in charge of a modest allowance for the day, the trio of adults left them.

Ja'far led the way down a filthy alley littered with broken bottles and a brown puddle Sinbad didn't want to know the origin of.

The young assassin crouched down and tugged a loose stone from the wall, revealing three sets of plain brown robes. They dressed quickly and Ja'far grimaced when Masrur's robes hung too short over his ankles. The gladiator didn't seem to mind but Ja'far prided himself on getting even the most minute details perfect in his subterfuge exploits.

But the three men continued down the various twisting alleyways that Balbadd possessed. Finally, Ja'far lead them to a decrepit hut on the outskirts of town.

It was made of thin moldering planks of driftwood and lacked a good portion of the roof too, and it was perfect.

Sinbad allowed Ja'far to enter first and he tried not to flinch as Masrur shut the moss-covered door, shaking the whole hut. But it wasn't until he took a good look as the small single room that he frowned. It was empty. There was no bound captive like he was expecting. There wasn't even a mutilated corpse that he feared (sometimes Ja'far got carried away). It was just…empty.

"Ja'far?" His voice was cautious and held a fair bite of warning.

"Down here Sinbad." Ja'far flipped a thin threadbare rug and exposed a dark hole in the floor. His voice then echoed as he climbed down a ladder that disappeared down into the darkness. "He's down here."

Sinbad swiftly followed and Masrur waited until Sinbad reached the bottom of the ladder before he squeezed into the hole and flipped the rug back over the hole behind him.

At the bottom of the hole, Ja'far lit a small oil lamp that illuminated the room. In the center was a rickety chair that held a struggling figure. The male figure was tied at the shoulders, torso, waist, and ankles. A dingy bag was covering his head and by the muffled sobs coming from under it, Sinbad would wager that Ja'far had gagged the trader as well.

Some of the ropes binding him had gotten a bit loose with all his struggling. So, Sinbad allowed Masrur to slide pass him to tie the bindings tighter. The muffled yelps coming from the bagged face gave Sinbad a certain petty glee deep inside his chest.

The bagged man struggled against the rough rope holding him. The tight bindings left thick red welts, some bleeding a bit, all over the exposed skin of his arms and chest. His robes which Sinbad could tell had been of high quality were now torn and dirtied with dust and sweat.

Sinbad kept his arms crossed over his chest as Masrur finished his tightening. He leaned against the cold stone walls of the unground dungeon, Ja'far joined him silently and helped Sinbad stare down the blinded prisoner at their mercy.

the dark dungeon was silent save for the uncertain cries of the struggling man. His muffled pleas were answered with neither word nor action. It was dark and it was quiet.

Eventually the captive ceased his hysterics. He slumped pathetically against the thick rope holding him and the bag darkened as his tears leaked through. Sinbad didn't react to the sad sight. He let the man stew in the dark terrifying silence. He knew the whatever the man imagined would happen to him would be infinitely worse than whatever actual torture Sinbad would do to him.

The human mind was capable of much more terror and violence than the body could withstand. If his spirit was already broken his body would succumb so much quicker. Sinbad would let his captive do the hard work for him, if only for a while. The terrible fear became too much after few minutes and the man slumped in exhausted sleep.

Ja'far slid to the side, purposefully letting his shoe scrape the hard-packed floor. The captive jerked awake and let out a muffled scream of desperation.

After he finished with the latest bout of tears, Sinbad decided to begin, he silently approached and leaned in close to the man's face. "Hello there, friend." The man jumped in surprised at the voice so close to his face.

"Do you know why you are here?" Sinbad's voice was deceptively pleasant. The man shook his head frantically. "Now let's ask some questions. Do you think you should be here?" Another head shake.

"How cute, don't worry friend, let me assure you; you do deserve to be here and you'll know why soon enough."

Muffled begging leaked through the bag. Sinbad sneered at the weak trembling.

"Now then, you're a slave trader, yes? So, you've probably bought and sold hundreds of people in your time. Now however as much as I dislike slavery, that's not why you are here. You are here because you bought the wrong person."

The bound man wriggled against this binding with a desperate fervor. Sinbad knew that he should feel a bit bad that another human being was so desperate and scared because of him and his orders; but he really didn't.

Sinbad began the circle around his guest, all the while Ja'far and Masrur stood by, waiting for their king. The guest trembled at the loud echo of Sinbad's shoes in the quiet stone room. The Sindrian King kept up his menacing monologue. "You bought a little boy. Perhaps you intended to sell him, perhaps you intended to keep him for yourself; I don't care. Because the boy you bought was the most dangerous victim you could have chosen." Sinbad leaned in close to the bagged man. "Because you chose," He ripped the bag off his face. "MY SON!"

Dark eyes blinked startled for a moment but they swiftly focused on Sinbad's golden orbs. Sinbad watched the reaction in his eyes from Fear to Confusion to Anger to a Furious Glee. The king leaned back, wary of the strange cascade of emotions. Ja'far also noticed the changed and shifted forward subtly, ready to act.

The man was gagged but his dark eyes spoke volumes. His hair was untidy clumps of silver and hung limply over his face. His face showed recognition. He knew Sinbad.

"Do you know who I mean? Grunt once for yes, twice for no." maybe it was petty but Sinbad didn't want to give the man the freedom to even speak.

"mmh." The man grunted.

"Do you know who I am?" Sinbad asked.

"Mmh"

"Did you know Sina was my son? Is that why you chose him?"

"Mmh…Mmh"

A bit annoyed at the non-descriptive grunting, Sinbad finally ripped the grungy rag out of the man's mouth.

Fatima spat the filth out of his mouth and glared up at Sinbad with a heinous grin. Sinbad stared back with even less kindness. "So, he was yours after all! Ha! I chose that little brat just because he looked like you. I couldn't hurt you, not like how I wanted. So, I chose him! He looks just like you. Acts like it too, the little beast."

SMACK!

Fatima jerked back and the chair shuddered unsteady. Sinbad shook his hand to relieve the pain from the clumsy punch he threw. Fatima again spat onto the dirt floor and grinned up at Sinbad with bloody teeth. The king looked down on him. "Why though? What have I done to you? How do you know me?"

Fatima looked shocked. His anger deflating in disappointed surprise. "You…you don't remember me?"

Sinbad shook his head. "I don't." it was true. Sinbad couldn't recall meeting this silver haired man before.

"You destroyed my life, took my place, killed our mother, and you don't REMEMBER!" Fatima began shrieking and flailing against his bonds. His face crazed and furious.

"'Our mother…?" Sinbad questioned. The only mother he had was Ezra. And he certainly didn't have any siblings.

"Madera…" surprisingly it was Masrur's voice that brought clarity.

"Madera?...ah." Sinbad was confused for a moment before the memories came forth. Um Madera. Sinbad could remember her. She was a slave trader that tried to overtake the Sindrian Trading company in the beginning. Sinbad had to become her slave after he lost a gladiator fight. A fight he lost to Masrur.

Masrur remembered Um Madera too. He had been her slave in his earliest memories. Fighting in the coliseum to amuse her and win her money and status. She had used physical punishment and emotional manipulation to control her 'property.' She had all her slaves call her 'mother.' She was a horrible woman. Sinbad had organized a slave rebellion to stop her and he freed all the slaves in her possession.

"You were her head slave, Fatima." Masrur quietly stated. Fatima ceased his thrashing to twist his head, glaring at Masrur over his shoulder.

"Yes! She was perfect! She was my Master, my Mother, my GOD!" He jerked back to face Sinbad. "And you took her away! You made her send me away! You betrayed her! You ruined her! You ruined everything!" Fatima's shouting became pitched and hysteric. Fat trails of tears ran down his face.

Sinbad roared in his face. "So you hurt my son?! You hurt a child to get back at me!? A child I didn't even know I had?! What is the point of that!? Huh, Tell me!" Sinbad felt a disgusting shiver rattle in his chest. Anxious trembling made him want to curl up in agony at what Fatima said.

"Why hurt him, Fatima? What not me, Huh? Why not me?!"

"You! YOU! I couldn't get to you! You were a king dammit! He was the closest I could get!" Fatima roared and then he leaned in close, lowering his voice into a near whisper.

Sinbad leaned in to listen.

"The closest I could get was a boy that only looked like you. I didn't even know for sure if he was yours. But he looked close enough that I didn't care. He looked like you, he even acted like you in the beginning."

"he did?" Sinbad breathed. He couldn't picture it. Sina seemed so different from him. It was always a challenge for Sinbad to connect with the small boy.

Fatima nodded. "Yeah, that first night he was so confident. So, damn innocent. I talked about you, you know."

Sinbad heard Ja'far hiss quietly behind him in anger. Sinbad stooped so that he and Fatima were face to face. "What did you tell him about me?"

"Just that he looked like the traitor that killed our mother, and his name was similar, and he acted like you." Fatima sighed. He was tired and sore.

"Did you use my name?"

"No. But do you know what I did use?" Fatima sneered cruelly.

Sinbad backed away a step. "What?"

"I used the water room technique, I used light deprivation, I used whips and chains and knives. I used other older slaves to beat him and spit on him and scare him. I starved him for days and then made him watch me eat lavish meals in front of him. I made him beg to eat the scraps at my feet. I made him stand up until his legs collapsed under him. I made him hold rocks over his head until his arms went numb. I made him stand in buckets of water while denying him even the smallest sip. I beat him, I whipped him, I stepped on him, I _**burned**_ him." Fatima's sneer got more and more satisfied as he watched Sinbad's face go pale.

"I tortured your boy until he broke." Fatima jeered, "And then I tortured him more."

"AAAGH!" furious roars exploded in the chamber. Fatima's twisted glee was cut short as he was flung to the floor.

Sinbad pounded his fists into Fatima's smirking face, turning it bloody. Again, and again fists rained down on his head. The cast off of Fatima's blood speckled Sinbad's face. Teeth scattered across the hard-packed floor. Still he didn't stop.

"Sinbad!" he heard Ja'far shout at him, but he didn't stop. He couldn't stop.

It wasn't until Masrur physically pulled him away, that Sinbad ceased his relentless swinging. Ja'far pulled Fatima's chair back on all four legs. The slavers face was a mess. His nose was broken and gushing blood, both of his eyes were swollen and quickly blackening, and his left cheek was collapsed and obviously crushed. Blood was flowing out of his nose and mouth. Fatima made shallow wheezing breaths as he struggled to draw breath through his broken face.

Sinbad shrugged Masrur off. And glared at the bloody man before him. "I should torture you to death for what you did. I should leave you here to starve!"

"Buat, zat won'd fix whaut I bid toh youer bouy." Fatima's mouth was too broken for comprehensible speech. Sinbad turned to Ja'far to see if he understood. The pale assassin grimaced as he mouthed 'but, that won't fix what I did to your boy.' over the broken man's shoulder.

Sinbad scowled but answered. "No, it won't. You're right. It won't fix anything. It won't stop him from flinching when I move to fast. It won't stop him from being suspicious of every adult he meets. It won't stop him from expecting cruelty where other children would see only kindness. Beating you won't heal his scars or calm his fears. Torturing you won't make his nightmares stop. And killing you won't erase the horrific deeds you have done to him. My son. My only son. It won't and I can't pretend that it does." Sinbad let Fatima absorb that information. His shoulders relaxed and the tiniest relieved smile began to twitch on his busted broken mouth.

Then Sinbad leaned in close and hissed. "But that sure as Solomon won't stop me from doing it anyway."

Fatima's swollen eyes went wide. Sinbad retreated and turned to Ja'far. "How much time do we have to spare?"

"We have six hours until we meet the kids for dinner, Sire." Ja'far smirked.

"Good. Do you hear that Fatima? We have six hours together. Isn't that exciting?" A positively jovial grin crossed Sinbad's face, it was accented well by the splatter of Fatima's blood. "Shall we begin? I know Ja'far has a cache or two down here with some interesting tools he'd like to use. And Masrur wants to demonstrate to you how a real gladiator handles his opponent. But let's save that for last, shall we? He tends to end things rather quickly and we certainly don't want that, now do we?"

Within moments bloodcurdling screams filled in the softly lit chamber and echoed up through the darkened tunnel and they didn't stop. Not for a long, long time.

 **And there you go! In one chapter, you got fluffy father/son bonding, insightful Nakht, pouty Ja'far, and Vengeful daddy Sinbad!**

 **Keep a keen eye out for the next chapter!**


	19. Chapter 19

**I live! Things have gone down in my personal life and honestly this fic has relieved and caused so much stress it's unbelievable. Any hoo lets continue on with the next chapter!**

Sinbad absently flicked some blood off his hands as he rose from the darkened hole. Late afternoon sun filtered through the thinly thatched roof above him. Ja'far and Masrur followed quietly behind him, their robes also stained with Fatima's blood.

"He is still breathing." Masrur commented. His red eyes cast disdainfully down the dark cavern.

"Perhaps, but we have to meet with the kids for dinner. So we better leave now if we want to make it in time." Sinbad replied.

"Are we leaving him to starve underground, Sin?" Ja'far nodded in agreement as he said that. He tended to favor harsher punishments more than the other generals.

"No." Sin shook his head. He could still remember Um Madera doing that to slaves that had disappointed her. Throwing sickly or rebellious slaves into a darkened pit in the warehouse amused her to no end; And the other slaves would have to work around the sounds of their pleading and death cries for days before they succumbed. It was a nightmarish punishment that Sinbad was loathed to remember and judging by Masrur's narrowed eyes, he did as well. So, Sinbad would not stoop to that woman's level. He wouldn't allow himself to.

Sinbad stripped the bloody robe off him and dropped it down the hole, gesturing for Masrur and Ja'far to do the same.

"Then, what will you do to him? In the end?" Masrur tilted his head to the side very much like an over large bird.

"He could die of blood-loss any moment now." Sinbad noted casually.

"But don't you want to make sure?" Ja'far followed Sinbad outside with Masrur at his elbow.

"Yes." Sinbad crouched at the corner of the dilapidated hut. He stood up and faced them, a thin grey plume of smoke rose behind him. The sunbaked hut caught quickly. As the men left, a thick column of smoke engulfed the hut.

"Will that kill him?" Masrur questioned.

"The fire won't." Sinbad acknowledged. "But the smoke and heat will."

As the outskirts of Balbadd came into view Sinbad stopped in the middle of the road, Masrur and Ja'far drew to a halt behind him.

"Sin?" Ja'far questioned, concerned.

Sinbad dragged a hand over his face and blew out a huff. "Yeah, just give me a minute." He leaned against a nearby palm tree lining the path, and shielded his face with a hand. Ja'far's expression softened. "Take your time."

The two vassals faced away and politely ignored Sinbad's trembling shoulders as he struggled to contain himself. After a long silence, Ja'far turned to his king. "Sin, are you alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. It's just- "He choked, his face damp and red, composure lost. "My son. Fatima hurt him Ja'far; because of me." Sinbad clenched his jaw so tight Ja'far worried his teeth would crack under the strain.

"No…No Sinbad, you heard him. He didn't know Sina was yours. How could he? It wasn't your fault."

"BUT IT WAS!" Sinbad roared in his face. Ja'far took a hasty step back wary in the face of so much anger. Wrath. Pure, furious, earth shattering wrath transformed Sinbad's face into a monstrous mask.

"Sina has my hair, my face, he's even named after me Ja'far! Fatima chose him because he's so like me. I ruined Fatima's life. Even if I didn't intend to, I still drove him to it! Drove him to Sina. My son…my son…" Sinbad fell against the tree. His body shaking with fury and pain.

"What can I do? How can I ever look Sina in the eye after this? After knowing this? How can I be his father after this, Ja'far, how?" he looked up at his advisor. But it was Masrur who answered him.

"Because you are his father."

"What?"

"He doesn't have another. You are his father. You must be there. Even if he hurts now. Even if you hurt now. It won't always. And you can be there for him when it doesn't hurt anymore. That's how you can be his father." It was an oddly emotional point of view from Masrur, Sinbad was moved. The king nodded and pushed himself off the tree. With a swipe, he brushed most of the wetness off his face and gave them a smile. It was frail and false, but it was still a smile.

"Okay, you're right. Let's go then."

"Very well my king." Ja'far nodded.

And as the men grew nearer to the capital city, Ja'far was pleased to see Sinbad's smile grow a little more real with each step closer to his son.

As they entered Balbadd, the three men wandered around the market. Sinbad would pause every now and then to peruse the stalls and their goods. He picked up a small set of wooden toy soldiers, dressed as Sindrian soldiers of course, for Nakht and Sina. A condensed map of the world for Aladdin, and a brightly painted hair comb for Morgiana.

"Gifts for the kids?" Ja'far smiled. He knew that Sinbad could scarcely contain himself from spoiling others with material goods. It was just in his nature.

"Of course, Balbadd has always had the most abundant market goods." His smile was bright, even if his eyes were still watery, most would attribute that to the dusty market or the wind carrying sand.

Masrur said nothing as they made their way closer to the hotel, only idly plucking a wooden ball to add to the presents. Ja'far tossed a child's beginning reading scroll in the pile of purchases before he twisted into another vein of the crowd. "You go ahead, I'm going to look around."

Sinbad managed to call out a "Have fun!" before Ja'far was swallowed by the throng of people.

Sinbad and Masrur felt the tension ease out of their shoulders as the hotel came into view. The lobby was as lavish as always. Sinbad noticed some of the patrons looked a bit nervous. He could tell they had come to stay in the hotel only to avoid the potential danger their homes posed. Masrur followed behind Sinbad quietly holding most of the packages while they made their way to their rooms.

The pair stopped at Aladdin and Morgianas' room first. Morgiana answered and let them in with a soft. "Hello"

"Hello Morgiana, How was lunch?" Sinbad smiled.

"It was good, um, thank you for the money, for um, lunch." She blushed, not used to such kindness.

Sinbad beamed down at her. she was a sweet girl. Not his type but still, very adorable. Like a lioness cub. Possessing the claws and teeth of a wild beast, but still small and fluffy enough to be considered harmless. But Morgiana was a fine young woman nonetheless. Sinbad gave a subtle glance over to Masrur. Perhaps he should give his quiet friend a push? Morgiana was a bit young, but Masrur would make her a fine husband. He would bring it up later.

Sinbad looked around the room. He noticed Aladdin still staring despondently out the window. 'His former friend really did a number on him.' Sinbad thought. Turning from the window he saw Nakht and Sina both curled up on the furthest bed, not napping but just resting quietly. Both of their eyes were half lidded, Nakht was sleepily twisting Sina's hair around his fingers. Sina would mumble quiet nonsense every few moments.

Sinbad smiled and gestured toward the small boys. "Where they any trouble?" he asked quietly

"Oh, um…No. they were fine." Morgiana reported just as softly. She so very easily relented to his authority. Sinbad guessed that she was a former slave not to long ago too, like the boys. A part of him felt bad for taking advantage of her like this, a part that was much larger than before (entirely because of Sina). It was a fault in his character, he knew it but he twisted that fault to his advantage. He manipulated people, twisted their desires until they merged with his own. It was something he was working to curtail, no matter how well it served him in the past.

"We picked a few things for you all at the market." Sinbad settled himself on a nearby chair, Masrur laid the wrapped packages on Aladdin's empty bed. "We can wait till the boys wake up, if you want." Sinbad made sure that Morgiana knew that she had a choice. He would let her make her own decisions. It came part and parcel with freedom after all.

"Oh um, that's fine. They should be up soon. And Aladdin…" she turned to her blue-haired friend. Aladdin watched the people below idly. He looked content but for the sadness evident in his eyes.

"Aladdin?" Sinbad drew the Magi's eye. "We picked you up a map from the market. You said you wanted to explore the world, right?"

The magi beamed up at him. "Oh yes! Thank you, Mr. Sin!" Aladdin gratefully took the map Sinbad handed him. The king smiled and watched the boy inspect his new gift. Then he turned to Morgiana. she was watching Aladdin and his new toy with gentle eyes.

"And Morgiana," Sinbad smiled up at her. "This comb would suit you, I think."

Morgiana looked awed. She carefully took the finely painted comb out of Sinbads' hand as if it was made of fine crystal. Sinbad thought that it could possibly be the first gift she had ever been given. That was a sad little thought. Sinbad turned and ran a gentle hand over his son's brow, rousing him.

"mmmh…" Sina's voice rose from the soft bedding. "Whosit?"

"It's just me and Masrur, Sina. Good evening. How was lunch?" Sinbad leaned further over to the other bed to brush his hair back.

*Yawn* "It was fine. Where were you guys?" Sina sleepily sat up and poked Nakht's cheeks until he also rose out of bed.

"We had an important meeting about the new slave trade surrounding Balbadd. The country is a mess because of the Fog Troupe. We were seeing what could be done about the bands of slavers circling the outer districts." Sinbad knew that in a lie, even the slightest twinge of truth would aid in the appearance of honesty. He was well versed in half truths. The fact that it made Morgiana look at him and more importantly, Masrur with a respectful shine in her eye notwithstanding. Sina accepted his answer with a small- "Kay."

Nakht slid off the bed and toddled over to Masrur. He raised his arms up in a silent plea to be lifted. The Fanalis man relented with a small rare smile. 'Those two have certainly bonded well.' Sinbad thought, a pleasant smile creeping over him. He watched as Masrur dug in the pile on the bed to reveal the small ball he had chosen. He presented the toy to the boy in his arms. "Here."

Nakht's eyes were wide and filled with tears, a smile on his face. "Is this for me?"

"Yes." Masrur's eyes were gentle.

"Wow, thanks Mister Masrur! I love it!" Nakht hugged the wooden toy to his chest like a stuffed animal. Sinbad turned to face his son and felt a flutter of nervousness as he passed Sina his own gift.

"What are these?" his son asked, thin eyebrows furrowing.

"They are toy soldiers. I thought you could use them to plan out more of your battle strategy. Like your plan for the Fog troupe, it was really good."

"…Thank you…" Sina's face was flushed and he couldn't look Sinbad in the eye. The King wanted to coo at how cute his young progeny was, but he resisted. He didn't think Sina would forgive him for it.

"They aren't dressed like the Balbadd soldiers." Sina noted as he began arranging a line of them on the bed.

"No, in fact they are wearing Sindrian uniforms. It's pretty rare to find such detailed work in a foreign market." Sinbad smiled, glad to see his son enjoying his gift.

"Sindria…That's where you live?" Sina snuck a peek at him.

"Yes. And you and Nakht, Aladdin, and Morgiana can come back to Sindria with us, if you want." Sinbad knew that he had to give his son the illusion of choice. As a slave, Sina never had a choice. Sinbad knew that demanding him come along to Sindria would not help with the relationship he was trying to forge with his son.

"But Miss Morgiana wants to go to the Dark Continent. Right?" Nakht twisted in Masrur's arms to look down at the Fanalis girl. She blushed and mumbled "Yeah.."

"Of course, and I would never stop her from going where ever she -or you- want to explore. Like I said when we first met, 'Adventures are great.' But it's still nice to have somewhere to go home too. Sindria can be like that to you; A home, if you want." Sinbad's smile was truly kind now. His heart fluttered anxiously. He wanted- he needed- his son to accept his offer.

"A home…that sounds…nice." Sina nibbled on his lower lip. "Right Nakht?" he turned his eyes on his friend.

"Yeah, a home. That sounds great!" the tanned boy grinned over Masrur's shoulder.

"Okay then, once all this business is done in Balbadd, we can go to Sindria. That sound good?"

"Yea. Okay, Sindria. That sounds good." Sina gave Sinbad a genuine smile. A smile that made Sinbad feel bright. The sight of his smiling son was better than any dungeon treasure room he had ever been in.

"But for now lets have some dinner. Does anyone have any suggestions?" Sinbad smiled. Everyone was happy. Even Aladdin was moved out of his funk enough to smile.

"How about Seafood?" Sina smiled innocently, ignoring the squeak Nakht let out in anger.

"Why don't see order something from the hotel menu. That way we don't have to worry about Ja'far being late. We can have a night in." Sinbad smiled already reaching to the tasseled rope against the wall.

"Ok."

Later that evening Sinbad, Masrur and Ja'far gathered in their hotel living room. "We have a crisis on our hands." Ja'far reported. "The economy in this country is in chaos." He, Masrur, and Sinbad didn't have to worry about keeping their voices down, both Sina and Nakht fell asleep in Aladdin and Morgiana's room and they didn't have the heart to move them.

Ja'far waved a stack of crumpled paper bills around. "And this is one of the main causes for it."

"The new Kou Bills?" Sinbad questioned, furrowing his brow in confusion.

"Yes, lately the Kou Empire has been using the military to strong arming the smaller, neighboring nations into trading in Kou bills, they're trying to make everyone trade in Kou Bills."

"But it's not working so well in Balbadd, is it?" Sinbad concluded.

"It's not working well anywhere but the Kou empire," Ja'far exclaimed "The constant expansion means that they are constantly reprinting new bills, without validating their worth, essentially making Kou Bills worth less than nothing outside of Kou."

"It's an inflation." Sinbad concluded

"And a tremendous disaster waiting to happen. Whoever is running the finances of that country is an idiot." Ja'far scowled. "And there's more; King Ahbmad is at the Kou empires beck and call. What's more is he is engaged to marry a Kou Empire princess."

"He's getting married?! I don't believe it. Why hasn't he said anything to me yet?" Sinbad rubbed his chin, upset that Rashid's eldest would snub him like that. 'That arrogant little brat.' He thought.

"There is also the matter of the Fog troupe. We need to contact Sindria and work out he best possible plan of action." Ja'far said with a minor tone of pleaded. He was praying that his King could see reason in this course.

"Yea you're right. I don't have metal vessels anymore. By the way, where is Aladdin?" Sinbad stretched against the couch.

"He's heartbroken." Ja'far noted amusedly. "Right now he's resting in his room. He may be a magi, but he's still a little boy."

 **WHOA! That was fun! Alibaba Comes flying in next chapter! Who else is super excited for that!? I know I am!**

 **Until next time, Leave your reviews!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Yo! I'm alive! I got a new job and it's a whole lot of stress to deal with that and College. So updates might be a bit slower than usual. Sorry.**

 **This is a short chapter and I'm sorry but I just really wanted to get this out to you!**

Sina stared at the bedroom door as the adults words filtered in. 'an inflation' he thought. That was the reason for so much suffering in this country. He felt anger coil tightly in his chest. He wanted to scream. To rage, to cry at the injustice of it all. That the bumbling of the government would have consequences for only the average citizen. It was unfair, so unfair!

Sina was reminded of the Ministry of Magic, and how their ostriching and waffling about Voldemort, allowed him and his followers to prey on the innocent people who had faith in their government. So many had died needlessly because of the ineptitude of the government. And now it seemed that Balbadd was doing the same thing. But instead of a malevolent mad man preying on their citizens it was foreign currency.

He was boiling with rage on behalf of Balbadd. Sina bit his lips hard enough that he tasted the thick copper of blood. He could feel a scream rise in his chest, heaving and churning to be let loose, but he didn't want to wake Nakht. His silver haired friend was resting quietly beside him. His face soft with sweet dreams. Sina couldn't bear to disturb him. The purplet eased himself out of the bed they shared. And he quietly slid the bedroom door open and slipped out, leaving Nakht none the wiser.

Sinbad blinked as Sina came out of the bedroom a came toward him. "Sina? It's really late, what are you doing up?"

"I heard you talking." The little boy mumbled. He stood before the three adults fidgeting with his fingers.

Ja'far looked remorseful. "Oh, did we wake you? You can go back to bed Sina, we'll be quiet. Don't worry." He stooped to shoo the boy back into the bedroom. Sina sidestepped him with a click.

"No. I heard what you were talking about." Sina interrupted Ja'fars' mother henning. "I-I want to…I heard that the…" Sina puffed a jet of air out. He clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, struggling not to yell. Suddenly he lifted his eyes to glare at Sinbad.

"The King is bad!" he yelped, upset and overwhelmed. "He is bad and he hurt his people! He's using money that he knows doesn't work. He's ruining his country! That's bad! He shouldn't be King! You should stop him from being King! Because he is a bad one!"

Sinbad was surprised to see the glistening of tears beginning in his son's eyes. The little boy was trembling with a rage that far outweighed his small body. He was overcome with emotion. His face was flushed and his breath was shallow. Sinbad didn't hesitate. He leaned forward and scooped his son into his arms.

The King of Sindria swiftly pulled his son to his chest. He tucked Sina's face into the crook of his neck. Sinbad curled his arms around his trembling son. Soft shushing noises left his lips as he rubbed a hand up and down Sina's back to sooth him. He felt small drips of sorrow wet his neck as his son's anger overwhelmed him. "SHhhh…Sina, I know…I know. Shh…just let go. I know…I know…" soft nonsense words came out of Sinbad to comfort his son.

Sina felt wave after wave of emotion swell up inside him. He was humiliated. He was seventeen years old. He shouldn't be crying like this. It was embarrassing. But he couldn't stop. He couldn't stop. He tried to slow down his sobs but they just became more and more violent until he was coughing and gagging on his own tears. He wasn't just crying over frustration now. He was crying for Balbadd, For the citizens that had to flee and became slaves, For Nakht and all of Fatima's' other slaves, for his mother, for himself. For every bad thing that had happened to him or that he had seen in this life, he cried. And he cried for his former life too.

He cried because the Dursleys were his only living relatives, and they hated him. He cried because his parents died doing what was right. He cried because they put their faith in their friend Peter, and he betrayed them. He cried because Sirius was dead. He cried because Remus was dead, and Tonks was dead, and Dumbledore, and Dobby, and Fred, and Cedric, and Colin Creevey, and Dennis Creevey, and Parvati and Lavender Brown, and Justin Finch-Fletchey, and Cho Chang, and Seamus, and Dean, and Professors Flitwick and Snape and Moody and Firenze and Trelawney and so many other wonderful bright amazing people who were dead because of Voldemort. He cried because Hogwarts was a battle field. He cried because Hogsmeade was rubble and ruins. Diagon Alley was a hole full of broken rocks and shattered lives. He cried because he DIED! He was Seventeen, he wasn't supposed to die yet! It wasn't fair. Nothing had been fair.

And all of the awful, overwhelming things that had happened in both of his lives welled up in his chest and came exploding in great heaving sobs and tears.

Sinbad rocked back and forth slightly. He felt hot tears splash against his neck as his son sobbed over him. He was confused about how violently Sina was crying. This outburst was about more than just the tyrannical king of Balbadd. But what could it be about?

With a jolt, Sinbad understood. Sina may act like an angry little man trapped in a boys body. Constantly challenging others, taking care of and protecting Nakht, being as independent as possible. But he was still a young child. And one that had face far too many hardships to boot. The separation of his mother, his life as a slave, his hardships were far to much for any child to bare. Balbadd wasn't the whole reason for this breakdown. It had just been the final straw. His poor sweet son was finally letting go of all that had been piled on his young shoulders in his life.

Sina needed comfort. He needed an adult-need Sinbad- to comfort and care for him. He had been so brave for so long, it was amazing he had lasted this long without an outburst. But he had Sinbad now. Sina could afford to be a child. He could depend on Sinbad. His son was finally beginning to depend on him, maybe even trust him a little? Sinbad felt guilty that he should be so grateful that his son was so distraught even if that meant that he could care for him.

It took some time. The room was painfully silent save for Sina's heaving sobs and soft wails of despair. Ja'far and Masrur said nothing as they stood witness. Both were afraid to move and alert Sina to their presence. They just watched their king and unknowingly their prince hold each other tightly.

For some long hours, Sinbad held Sina to his chest until his sobs finally faded to soft coughs and sniffles. "Sina?" Sinbad kept a hand rubbing soft circles on his back. "Do you feel better?"

"Uh huh." Sina hiccupped.

"Do you want to go to bed? It's late and I'm sure you're tired." Sinbad stood up and began walking to the bedroom. Sina was exhaustingly perched on his hips.

"yea…" Sina let out a little yawn. He felt exhausted, both physically and emotionally.

The king of Sindria was very careful to tuck Sina under the covers without waking Nakht. He pulled the soft blanket up to Sina's chin and absently checked that Nakht was covered securely too. "Goodnight Sina, I'll see you in the morning." He whispered.

"G'night." His son mumbled, sleep already relaxing his expression. Sinbad felt an ache twinge in his chest at the sight of thick tear stains covering his little face.

Sinbad waited a moment to see if the boy was deeply asleep before he ducked down and laid a kiss on his brow, careful not to wake him. "Goodnight son." He breathed as soft as he dared.

Sinbad went back to the front room where Ja'far and Masrur were waiting.

"Nicely done, Sin." Ja'far commented softly. "I expected you to panic. Honestly."

"I did too." Sinbad laughed. "But when he started crying, I don't know, I just reacted." He collapsed on the couch. His robe was still damp but he felt more awake than before. His body was energized for some reason. "Ja'far? How long before the Fog troupe issue is dealt with?"

"How long until we can return to Sindria and tell Sina about his status, you mean? Well the sooner we call on the Sindarin ambassadors and have them work out the best deal for maintaining Sindria interests, we can leave by the end of the week hopefully."

"If Balbadd collapses then there will be a flood of refugees. Many will come to Sindria." Sinbad theorized. He seemed sad at the inevitable fall of Rashid's kingdom.

"Yes. Unfortunately, Sindria does not have the resources nor the land available for a sudden influx of citizenship. We would have to turn many away."

"But if Balbadd collapses, then their fishing isles will be abandoned." Masrur piped up from the wall.

Ja'far turned to him unhappily. "True but if Ahbmad marries a Kou princess the islands will officially belong to Kou."

"So, what of the Yellow Steps?" Sinbad questioned.

"The island chain closest to Sindria? Yes, those would belong to Kou as well." Ja'far's tone changed, becoming suspicious.

"I don't like the idea of the Kou empire expanding too close by. We can't allow Balbadd to fall under Kou control." Sinbad nodded.

"I didn't expect you to be so anti-Kou, is this because of their conquest of smaller nations around the world. They've expanded their colonies by more than half in just a few years. Do you perhaps feel threatened?" Ja'far sarcastically commented. Sinbad sniffed but didn't answer. "So, we will interfere then? To stop Ahbmads wedding or to destroy the Kou? How would we do that, Sin?" he wanted his orders to be clear, no room for confusion.

"We can't allow Balbadd to join the Kou. So, whatever means we have to in order to deprive Kou the Balbadd territories, we will do." Sinbad sternly said.

"So even assassination is on the table then?" Ja'far's voice was pointedly casual. He knew how hard it was on Sinbad to even contemplate killing the sons of his good friend. But, if it was for the good of Sindria, there was very little that Sinbad would balk at.

"Sinbad, getting rid of a Kou princess would be too dangerous. It would have to be Ahbmad." Ja'far said quietly, trying to be gentle. Making sure his king knew just who he would be assassinating.

"I understand that. Let's try to exhaust all other options before we go ahead with that though."

"As you wish, my king." Ja'far accepted his orders. Wait until there was no other choice, but the moment other avenues were lost to them. He had to take the Balbadd king and deputy King down. This would then fall back on the will of the former king. Rashid made sure to put that Sinbad would inherit the Balbadd lands and territories if and only if all of Rashid's children had passed. With obvious exclusions of murder or suspicious accident. Ja'far could easily see to it that their deaths looked natural.

This course of action would deny Kou the Balbadd territories and simultaneously expand Sindria by a huge mass of trading islands and coasts. And the best part was that it was in accordance to the Seven Seas Alliance. No breaching of any agreements and completely legal. The Kou and Reim empires would be seething at Sindrias' success and the Seven Seas Alliance would remain intact.

Masrur began sniffing the air. He twisted his head toward the hotel door. "Morgiana has returned. She brought another. I do not recognize the scent."

"Could it be Aladdins' friend?" Ja'far wondered. "Morgiana was familiar with him as well. She could track him if she had a scent trail to follow."

"Well then, lets see what Alibaba the wonder has to say."

The three grown men staked out in the hallway to spy on the room across. Sinbad was crouched low with his ear against the wall, using a cup to amplify sound. Ja'far was behind him exasperatingly complaining about the demeaning spying method, but that didn't stop him from doing the same thing.

Masrur was the only standing one. He stared down on his king with no expression. Only the slightest impression of judgement came from him.

They managed to hear most of Alibaba's monologue. At least they got the important parts.

Sinbad hummed. "So, he's the former king's illegitimate child." Sinbad felt a zing of irritation, how could Rashid never tell him? He could understand the confliction his late friend had to have been experiencing before his death. His trueborn sons were mockeries and idiotic while his baseborn progeny was the only one worth acknowledging. It was a difficult situation for any man, let alone a king. And he never bothered to confide in him. His friend, his mentor, didn't think Sinbad needed to know. He would never admit it aloud, but he felt not a small amount of hurt.

"Really now, Sin. Eavesdropping on them is in such bad taste." Ja'far complained.

Sinbad turned to his advisor. "Shh!" he couldn't hear them inside.

More murmurs came from inside the room. Sinbad could hear about the economic corruption from the government and Rashid's sons connection to the bandit troupe. Young Alibaba's confliction was relatable. Sinbad could understand how heavy the weight of a country could be on young shoulders. Add that to the confusion of an old friend turned enemy turned friend; and young Alibaba was in quite a situation, wasn't he?

Aladdin spoke to Alibaba, offering his assistance in saving the country. While he listened, Sinbad felt a small zing of apprehension, could Alibaba be Aladdin's king candidate? That didn't bode well. He'd have to consider that later.

A muffled explosion made him and Ja'far jerk away from the wall.

Screams could be heard all over the hotel. The rich guests who believed they were safe in a hotel, now found themselves facing a large number of violent criminals. They scurried around like a disturbed nest of rat, trying to flee the Fog Troupe. But wherever they turned another troupe member appeared. And the rich citizens of Balbadd were being taking captive.

Another crash and the hallway wall next to them fell away. A mob of bandits emerged from the smoke. Sinbad, Ja'far and Masrur stood in front of their room door. The boys were still inside, hopefully they would know to stay inside the room and out of harm's way.

Three bandits stood in front with crossbows. A rather pretty woman commanded them to fire "Finish them off!" she roared. With a twang, the bolts came flying at them.

Masrur lifted a large marble side table and deflected the arrows. Ja'far darted to the side and attacked the bandits. His throwing blades destroyed the crossbows. He yelped "Sin!"

Sinbad leapt over the table shouting "Leave this to me!" He quickly engaged a scarred man in a swordfight. His opponent was an ugly thick set sort of ruffian. His face was badly healed and one eye was covered with a dirty rag. "It looks to me like you launched this attack knowing exactly who I was." Sinbad commented drily.

The fierce looking man gave Sinbad a nasty smile. "You're damn right about that. We did, King Sinbad." An acidic smoke oozed out of his sword and began eating away at Sinbad's blade.

Sinbad gritted his teeth a leapt away from the melting sword and began dodging the man's clumsy swipes and swings.

"Come on, you're so useless!" Ja'far griped

"Shut up!" Sinbad yelled back. He swung his arms out and hit the scarred man in the gut. "Ow!" he hacked and stumbled backwards.

"What in blazes was that?" he demanded before gagging and vomiting a handful of blood.

"Hassan!" the swordswoman gasped.

"Making me waste my Magoi like that." Sinbad growled in contempt at the downed man.

A man's voice came from the stairwell. "Kassim has him! They're on the roof!"

At the cry of information, the woman gave a command. She hoisted the man she called 'Hassan' on her back. "Let's get out of here! GO Now!" she shrieked glaring balefully at the trio of men before her. She let her men go ahead of her up the stairs, and then quickly followed them, barely slowed by the heavy load she carried.

"It seems they're getting away." Sinbad commented wryly.

"How amusing. They think we will let them go." Ja'far replied.

"They're all on the roof." Masrur reported evenly.

"Then let's go meet them."

 **Hope you enjoyed this! Leave a review for me!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Another new chapter! I'm so excited! I just got Netflix and there is the whole two seasons of Magi on there! So chapters are going to be coming a lot more frequently now!**

Sina wrapped his arms around Nakht, who was trembling with the explosions that shook the hotel. "What's happening?!"

"I don't know. But we're safe here, don't worry." Sina gathered a few more pillows to cocoon the two of them more.

"Where's Masrur, and Mister Ja'far, and Mister Sinbad?" Nahkt swiped a hand over his damp face, a useless gesture as more tears took their place.

"I don't know." Sina scowled. Stupid old man should be here.

"What about Aladdin and Morgiana? What if they're hurt?!"

"I can't imagine anything hurting Morgiana, or Masrur, and they won't let anything hurt the others. We don't know what's happening so we should stay here. It might not be safe out there." Sina tried to comfort his friend.

"Well it's no' very safe in here, brat."

Sina and Nakht startled and looked up to see a dirty teenaged boy in front of them. They didn't hear him opening the door and coming in their hotel room.

He was a thin youth with streaks of dirt on his cheeks and muddy stains on his torn tunic. His teeth were few and a thick yellow color. His eyes were narrow and were heavily lined with thick lashes and deep undereye bags. He held a broken shard of metal that he had partially wrapped in a rag.

Sina tugged Nakht closer to him and further from the young man. "Who are you?!" Sina hissed furiously cursing himself for not noticing him sooner.

"We were given orders to 'ake every rich fucker hostage. That includes you!" the youth used his free hand to wrench the sheet from under the two boys.

"Whoa!" Sina cried out. Nakht let out a startled sob as the boy twisted the sheet around their bodies to trap them in a makeshift bag.

"Let's go then." The youth hummed as he gathered the sheet bag up.

"Let us out!" Sina shrieked as he and Nakht were jostled and bundled up. the youth ignored him as he began running through the hallways. The bag twisted and beat against his leg every few steps. The muffled yelps from the boys came with each hit. As the young man turned the corner he was knocked down by another boy.

"YO! Limner, everyone is on the roof. We gotta go!" the second boy coughed, his voice was raspy and weedy. Sina could hear the sickness in him. His voice sounded…wet? Almost gurgling? What was wrong with him?

"But I got some hostages! What shoul' I do with 'em?" Limner hefted the heavy sack up, inciting a muffled cry from inside. Nakht felt his elbow crack down across Sina's face. "Urk!" he could feel the blood pooling from his nose.

The second boy pushed the bag back down, "Bring 'em. We ain't got time!" he reached for the first boy, limners' arm and yanked him forward. The two youths raced up the stairs to the roof. They emerged just in time to see Masrur plow right through their heavy forces.

"Whoa!" the second boy wheezed out, his voice sounded even reedier with fear, "What the hell is that?!"

"What do you have there, mister?" a soft voice drew the two fog troupe thugs' eyes. It was a little boy with bright blue hair.

"Wha?" Limner gaped. The boy didn't seem fazed at all with what happened. His deep blue eyes entirely focused on the two of them. It made the cool desert night seem even colder to the teen.

"The bag? Does that belong to you?" the boy asked again, curious but patiently. He didn't seem threatening but Limner still felt that shiver of unease that warned him to get as far away from the boy as possible. He took a half-step back toward the roof door.

The muscular redheaded girl next to him, finally looked their way. She looked down at the bag curious. Limner was sure he saw her nose twitch for a moment. Then he was flying.

Wait. What?

He was flying right off the side of the hotel roof! His stomach was shrieking with agonizing pain, because that girl had just _kicked_ him clear across the roof! Just before he went over the lip of the roof, he saw the girl rip open the bag she had torn from his grasp.

Nakht's face was a mess of snot and tears as he leapt out of the bag. "Miss Morgiana!" he sobbed, clinging to the girl. Morgiana awkwardly patted the hysterical child on the head. "Uh, there, there." She cringed.

Sina was still tangled in the sheet but he was beginning to wriggle his way out. He had been jammed in the bottom so he had gotten the brunt of the abuse from Nakht's elbows and knees as well as the banging against the wall and floors on the way up here. His nose was leaking a fair bit of blood and he felt some heavy bruises forming under his clothing.

"Sina, are you okay?" Aladdin helped him untangle from the sheet and began dabbing a bit of the blood up with the corner of the cloth.

"Yeah, just sore. What's happening?" Sina tried shake off the various aches and looked around at the veritable army gathered on the roof. A large furrow was carved out of the stone tile and there were Fog troupe members splayed out surrounding it. It was like a mini tornado swiped through the enemy force. Sinbad, Ja'far, and Masrur were surrounded while Morgiana and Aladdin stood at the sidelines watching, curiously set apart from the chaos, like the audience of some exotic play.

"The fog troop came to rescue Alibaba." Aladdin explained.

"Why was Alibaba here?"

"Morgiana kidnapped him." Aladdin winced. It sounded bad when it was put like that, but there really wasn't a way to make kidnapping sound good, was there?

"Oh. Okay." Sina shrugged and dismissed the scene before him to focus on pulling a sobbing Nakht away from Morgiana. The fanalis girl looked exceedingly grateful as she was let loose. She twisted the damp hem of her dress to rid it of the Nakht's tears and sniffling residue.

Sina pressed Nakht back into his side. "Crybaby." Sina gently teased as his friend's sniffling slowed down. "S-sorry. It was like…like before with Master Fatima. I was scared." Nakht whispered quietly. The purplet scowled at the reminder, he tugged Nakht closer to him. "Don't worry about it. We're okay now. Okay?"

"-Kay." Nakht scrubbed the last of his tears away. "What's happening now?"

"Sinbad and the others are fighting the Fog Troupe. Aladdin's friend, Alibaba is their leader." Sina looked out over the roof as Sinbad confronted the man in the center.

"So, whose that other man?" Nakht pointed subtly to the man with dreads who was shouting hysterically at Sinbad. Nakht gasped with a sickly black smog erupted from the man's sword. Sinbad sat calmly as he was covered in that twisted fog. "What strange Magoi…" he considered it. Kassim began shouting commands at them, embolden with his hostage. The dreadlocked man began jeering at the downed king. "The more you struggle the more you get squeezed!"

"Mister Sinbad!" Nakht squeezed Sinas' arm tightly. Sina gritted his teeth but refused to let Nakht or anyone see how worried he was.

Ja'far twisted around when he heard Nakht's voice. "Boys'!" he looked frantic at the sight of the two of them on the rooftop. "How did you two get up here? Stay over there, okay?!"

Morgiana stepped forward to defend Sinbad, "I'll save him."

Ja'far twisted his head at her as he stood in front of Sina and Nakht. "No need."

With a casual wave of his now glowing hands, Sinbad freed himself.

"What!" Kassim gasped, shocked that his weapon failed.

Ja'far seemed smug. "Well," he explained smugly, "he isn't the conqueror of the seven seas for nothing."

"Magical weapons of such limited power don't affect me." Sinbad informed them casually. His arms crossed confidently as he stared down Kassim.

With a shout, Kassim desperately charged at Sinbad. Masrur was quick to twist his arm behind him, pinning Kassim to the ground. Sinbad stood over him, he hadn't even flinched at the attack.

Sinbad ignored the detained teen and unsheathed his sword, turning passed Kassim. "Now, the only thing I have left to do is capture you and my job will be done here." He faced Alibaba. "Isn't that right, Alibaba the wonder?"

Alibaba's face went pale, he was in stark terror of this living legend of a man challenging him. "Why don't we settle this, general vs general?" Sinbad smirked, he seemed to be treating this almost too casually. "If you wish, take him out. You're a capturer aren't you?" Sinbad subtly flaunted his information on the young Alibaba, all done to throw him off balance.

Alibaba looked down at his small blade, brows furrowed and face pale as it occurs to him just who he is up against. Dark honeyed eyes gauge his opponent, and feeling anxious dread boil in his middle. 'Are you serious, Sinbad?' Alibaba thought, feeling hope dwindle down his spine, leaving him feeling cold. 'You're a legendary dungeon capturer.'

Morgiana looked sidelong at Aladdin, silently questioning his lack of interference. Alibaba was their friend. Shouldn't Aladdin be speaking up for him, or stopping Sinbad? But the magi just stood still, staring at the standoff, gazing at the two royals facing off before them.

Sinbad turned, feeling heavy eyes on him. His eyes met Aladdin's blank stare. Only it wasn't blank. It was a deep soulful stare. As though the boy was peering into his very soul; weighing his worth as a man, as a capturer, as a king, and Sinbad wasn't sure if he was measuring up. He took but a moment to think it through, all the while staring back into Aladdin's eyes.

'This Alibaba is Aladdin's' friend, possibly even his kings candidate. If I defeat him, then no doubt Aladdin will refuse to even consider coming to Sindria. There is no way; I can't afford to lose him! Reim has Sherenazade, Kou has that brat Judal. If Sindria is to continue to be seen as a world power, then it needs a Magi. But how do I stop this? How do I turn this situation around? How can I stop the Fog troupe, Do what is best for Sindria's interests, and keep Aladdin on my side?' Sinbad considered all of this in a small moment, before the standoff was shattered by Kassim.

"RUN ALIBABA!" Kassim Shrieked. "You Bastards, let our leader go!"

"I suppose that's one way to resolve this too." Sinbad humored at the restrained teen. He had a few ideas on how to manipulate this fight, now to see which of them plays out best. He continued talking with a smile. "I mean, the Fog Troupe is history now, anyways."

"Then again, come to think of it," Sinbad smiled genially, turning to look at the blond, "You're not like the others here, are you now? If you want to escape, go ahead. These guys are just people from the slums, but you're not like them. You're different than they are. No matter how hard you try to pretend you're one of them. At the end of the day, you're a royal Prince, Alibaba Saluj-"

"SHUT UP!" Alibaba shrieked, his voice cracking. "Don't act like you know everything! Everyone here is my chosen brother! There's not one difference between them and me! So don't-. Don't you dare make fun of the bond we share!" With a pitched yell, Alibaba summoned his Djinn, Amon.

"Sina and Nakht watched Sinbad goad Alibaba into revealing his Djinn. The fight was visually aweing. Bright dancing flames twisted around Alibaba as he twirled and spun around Sinbad. The Fog troupe members began looking hopeful. Their leader was amazing! He could command fire and flames! He would burn their way to victory! Sina noticed the enthusiastic expressions around them, his own expression dull and pitying as he watched their awed and childish expressions. Nakht whimpered as a stray flame escaped the close quarters of the fight and lashed the air above them. The silverette shuffled closer into the back of Ja'far's robes, for protection.

Sinbad's face was placid as he evaluated the younger man's fighting styles. He noticed the Balbadd royal swordplay, the practiced combinations with the flames, the innate talent young Alibaba possessed. But he had enough.

With a harsh kick and swift strike to center of his chest, Alibaba was tasting dirt. "You have absolutely no idea how to control that Djinn, do you?" Sinbad couldn't refrain from commenting amid shocked murmerings of the Fog troupe.

"ALIBABA!" Kassim dramatically shrieked

"Sorry Kassim," Alibaba wheezed, his lungs felt squeezed and sore. "I just-I Haugch!" Alibaba fell into a harsh coughing fit.

"DAMMITT!" Kassim roared in frustration. "Why'd you have to show up around here anyway?" he demanded at Sinbad. "What's Sindria got to do with any of this?" he glared hatefully up at the King, blaming him for everything. "If you hadn't shown up, the Fog troupe would still be undefeated!"

"You think so?" Sinbad condescended. "You were only succeeding because you were being fed information by a mole in the government. All you ever did was dragged people into fights you had no hope in really winning and try to destroy them one by one. You're so foolish you don't even know how powerless you really are!"

Kassim gritted his teeth in frustration, having nothing to say against the accusation.

Morgiana came up to Ja'fars' side, questioning. "These men, what will happen to them if they are captured?"

"Well, I know it's harsh," Ja'far voice was gentle, those his eyes were professionally blank and uncaring. "but a traitors' fate leads to the gallows." He seemed to have no pity for those who rebel against their king.

"If that still doesn't deter you from making a stand." Sinbad announced to the entirety of the rooftop, the moonlight gleaming off his glowing purple locks, his arms open and welcoming. "Then I might have another option open to you." His face was locked in a charming charismatic grin.

From the sidelines Sina watched this king. A shiver of dread stroked up his back. He could see a hint- just the smallest sliver-of that same charm, that same charisma that Tom Riddle employed in the past. That ever so sure confidence that could motivate even the hardest of men. That would inspire the stoutest and strictest of traditionalist purebloods to eagerly kneel before a half-blooded maniac.

That charm that King Sinbad employed was dangerous. And he wielded it with so much more finesse than Tom ever did. Tom Riddle used his charm like a hammer, slamming his view of the world at others and shattering their own until they could only accept his truth as reality.

Sinbad used his charm differently. He pushed, and tousled his opponents into a corner, he deprived the Fog Troupe of the righteousness of their cause, he dashed their leaders into the dirt in a magnificent show of force, laid out the deadly consequences of their actions. And now that they were desperate, now that they were lost and helpless. He would give them a thread of hope, something that they would instinctively cling to. He wouldn't tell them however, that he would hold the leash of that hope. He would crush the Fog Troupe more efficiently than a hundred soldiers of Balbadd could, and all without spilling a single drop of blood. Sinbad was truly a Slytherin, if ever there was one. That thought made Sina's blood run cold.

Sina subtly pulled Nakht closer to him, taking a half-step closer to Aladdin and Morgiana and away from Ja'far. Ja'far was completely Sinbads' man. And this Sinbad, this King, who had shown so much interest in them; was dangerous. But dangerous to whom was still the question. What was his plan for Balbadd? What was his plan for the four of them? Why would a foreign King care about four random children? What would he have to gain from them? Sina knew that Sinbad called Aladdin a 'Magi' and that somehow meant he was important. But why not just bother with him? Why insist on putting Sina and Nakht in his hotel suite? Were they somehow important to his plans? Or maybe…maybe they were there as hostages? Just in case Aladdin and Morgiana tried to leave. What if he had some elaborate plan to use Aladdin for world domination!? …Or maybe that was giving the old man too much credit? Oh! This was just too much to think of at once. He didn't know what to make of this King Sinbad!

It was times like this that he really missed Hermione!

'Okay, calm down and think' Sina forced himself to take a deep breath, ignoring the concerned look Nakht shot him from the corner of his eye. 'What would Hermione do? What would Ron do?'

Well, Ron would probably start yelling and demanding explanations. Making a scene and all. That probably wouldn't work. So, let's ignore what Ron would do.

Okay so, Hermione! Smart Hermione! Clever Hermione! The cleverest witch of an age! She would… um…She would…she would go to the Library! That's right! Research! He had to find out more on King Sinbad! Where he came from, what kind of country Sindria was! what kind of king he was! That kind of stuff! It was perfect! He'd go to the library and read up on…oh wait.

He couldn't read.

Sina felt a weight of disappointment crash down on him. He can't believe he forgot he couldn't read! He slumped over in exasperation. Feeling all the air around him darken in a cloud of depression.

Nakht began hissing questions at him, tugging insistently on his sleeping tunic. "Sina? Sina, are you okay? Sina, answer me!" he kept his voice low but the silverette could already feel some of the Fog Troupe looking at the two of them in interest. The heavy eyes of so many rough looking adults frightened him. He needed Sina to answer him. What if he was sick again? What if he hit head on the wall when that scary man had them in the sheet-bag? He did have a lot of blood on his face, after all. What if he was dying!? Nakht needed his friend to be okay. He didn't know what he would do with out him. Around them Ja'far and Sinbad were still talking.

Whatever Sinbad had just said made everyone look surprised. Nakht wasn't paying attention though so he wasn't sure what it was. Mister Ja'far seemed extra shocked.

"Wha-!" he gaped at his king. "Sin," he hissed, "you're joining the Fog Troupe?"

"That's right." Sinbad stated confidently.

"And you're going to fight?" Ja'far's voice was breathy and confused.

"That's right." Sinbad grinned, glad that Ja'far was getting it. he crossed his arms with a smirk at the younger man.

"Against the Balbadd regime?"

"Exactly."

"I see…" Ja'far dropped his arms. "But that's ridiculous." He gasped. "The Fog Troupe must be taken down. You promised King Ahbmad so that he would continue trade, remember that?"

"Of course." Sinbad nodded serious. "But now I feel like siding with the Fog Troupe."

"But what you're saying is completely insane!" Ja'far exclaimed trying to reason with his king. "Don't you remember telling us so heroically that you'd made up your mind on your own?"

Sinbad sighed in disappointment. "Ja'far…" he spoke like a disappointed teacher, sad that his student couldn't grasp a simple lesson, He pointed dramatically at him "Now what kind of heartless and callous man are you?" Sinbad demanded.

"Wait, what?" Ja'far stepped back from the accusation.

"You know as well as I do, the miserable state this country is in," Sinbad impressed.

"Y-yeah…" Ja'far reluctantly admitted, already feeling where this was going.

"Yet that wasn't sufficient?" Sinbad scolded, "It wasn't enough to move your soul?"

Ja'far embarrassedly fiddled with his turban, mumbling. "Well, I certainly did think the situation was dire, but—"

"Right?" Sinbad boldly cut across him. Ja'far grimaced. Nakht knew the expression, it was the same one he and the other slaves would have when Master Fatima would throw a tantrum about some petty thing or another. There was nothing they could do about it, so they would just ride out whatever came from it. Ja'far had that expression on now.

"Well that got me thinking!" Sinbad announced happily. "Instead of helping that moron of a king, I want to help out these guys who fight so desperately for the slums!" he looked around at the remaining members of the Fog Troupe. "I'm going to join and fight alongside the Fog Troupe."

Alibaba was sitting up now. He looked confused and slightly frightened of the quick reversal of Sinbad's plans for the Fog Troupe. He didn't know what to make of this seemingly deranged King.

 **What do you guys think so far? Leave a review! I'm thinking about setting up some outtakes and extra scenes from this fic that won't fully fit in the main story. I got a bunch of throw away snippits that I just dabble with while fighting writers block.**

 **Tell me if I should or shouldn't?**


	22. Chapter 22

**Yahoo! New chapter! This one is a bit shorter but still exciting! Some father son fussing going on which is just adorable! Scary Ja'far and more! Let the good times roll!**

The stars above Balbadd twinkled brightly as Sinbad pled his case to the Fog Troupe. Sina absently ignored the adults around him as he swiped a hand over his bloody nose. His hand was sticky now, small grits of sand from the roof stuck to the blood. SIna grimaced at the sensation. The night air of Balbadd was cold and windy on top of the hotel roof. He was cold and bloody and his head hurt like no man's business.

Meanwhile Aladdin made an impressed sound, looking at the impressive display Sinbad was making. "Wow, Mister Sinbad sure is an impressive man. I can certainly see why he's become so famous." His voice was passive and light. Sina felt something in his chest twitch, he couldn't let Aladdin fall for Sinbad's game, whatever it was. He didn't fail to notice that while Sinbad never took his eyes off Alibaba, his face shifted just a bit when he heard Aladdin's words, it was obvious he was happy to be praised by the bluenet. But that didn't stop Sinbad from talking incessantly at the Fog Troupe.

That man could certainly talk. He kept going on and on about the distortions of the world or some tripe. Every word from his mouth sent shivers down Sina's spine. He was confidant, bold, and persuasive; every inch a Slytherin. His words, his tone, his body language, every piece of him sang with conviction and sincerity. He was utterly convincing. Sina could see it on the faces of the Fog Troupe members. Despair and desperate eased away, melting like fragile winter mist into the sweet blooms of springtime hope. They were ready to throw their cause and abilities at the feet of Sinbad and follow wherever he goes.

Even Alibaba, now crouching on his knees looked on in awe at the man before him. Sinbad held his arms open and relaxed, as though waiting for Alibaba and the rest of his troupe to fall into his embrace. He laid out the examples of his 'distortion of the world', poverty, discrimination, war, slavery, and other such atrocities were listed by the Sindrian king. He raised his hand into a fist over his chest, openly declaring his sincerity, "As the ruler of Sindria, it fills me with sorrow. Therefore, I want to end Balbadds' strife and solve the distortion of the world if I can. What do you say to that?"

Alibaba looked as clued in on what was happening, as a fish would in the desert. His mouth agape and his expression dazed, 'What in the world?' Alibaba wondered at the outrageous things that Sinbad was saying. Wasn't this the guy that was just beating the absolute hell out of him a second ago? Now he was offering to help the Fog troupe? What was going on!?

"Don't be fooled!" a shout came from the side. Kassim shook off Masrur and stood up. his face a portrait of rage and bubbling fury. "He's a King, Dammit!" Kassim reminded everyone, "He doesn't want to help us!"

Kassim swung an arm to point accusingly at Sinbad. "All you rich bastards are the same, the only way you're truly happy is watching dirty street rats like us starving to death out here, isn't that right?" he sneered at the royal before him. "If it means you can go on living in luxury. Am I wrong?" He demanded "Well, am I, Great King Sinbad?"

A sudden streak of red startled Kassim. His cheek bloomed in a sharp jolt of pain as he fell backwards in shock.

Ja'far stood above him. A crimson cord emerging from his hand caught Kassims' eye. Narrow gold followed the thread down to the ground by his hip. A silver dagger was embedding in the stonework rooftop. A dark shiver came over the bandit. A knife, this pale gentle looking noble had thrown that knife so fast he couldn't see it. that was why his cheek was hot, he had sliced him just enough to warn him, cutting him so thinly that only a few drops warmed his face.

Ja'far's face was calm; Too calm. Dangerously calm. The calm that only assassins could obtain in the face of abject violence. Detached, dead, grey eyes stared down at Kassim pale, fearful face. He could have been gazing at a wall of wet paint for all the interest his face showed.

But his eyes told another story. Though Ja'far's expression was placid his eyes gleamed with menacing rage. Dead and cold and dispassionate. Like the eyes of a furious desert viper, coiling and readying his venom. "Shut up." he hissed softly, so soft that Kassim had to strain to hear him. Making his demand even more terrifying.

The teenaged bandit felt his legs try to twitch close, instinctively protecting his more important parts. Shock and fear radiated from him and was echoed by the fearful whisperings of his troupe.

Ja'far coiled the scarlet cord back into his fist, the dagger held tightly, ready to be thrown again. This time he wouldn't be warning Kassim, there would be real blood spilled. He stepped swiftly over to the bandit, his footstep echoing loudly across the now silent rooftop, the clacks of his shoes were only interrupted by the slight whimpers Kassim unknowingly released.

Ja'far gripped his tunic and pointed the dagger at Kassims throat. Carelessly watching his blood thumping through his jugular as he threatened the boy. "You don't know the wounds that Sin has sustained," He informs him. "or all of the sacrifices he's had to make," Ja'far raised his blade, eager to take the life of the fool who dared disrespect his king. "You know nothing, you insignificant brigand." He slammed the dagger down. A slash of blood hit the rooftop.

Kassim felt a trickle of cowardice slip from him as he flinched away. But it wasn't his blood that now decorated the roof. Sinbad's hand slipped around the knife as he halted Ja'far's assault.

"Stop." He calmly addressed his subordinated "that's enough Ja'far." His words were enough to jolt the light back into Ja'far's eyes, now full of regret at his actions. Not for harming Kassim (for surely no one who insulted Sinbad so readily, was anything less than the enemy) but for forcing his king to go out of his way to stop him. And for hurting his king in the process.

"I-I'm sorry." Ja'far gasped, eyes wide with remorse.

"Alright" Sinbad easily gave his forgiveness.

Alibaba rushed to Kassims side, fling a hand to separate his friend from the pair of Sindrians. "Alright," he cried, "That's enough. Knock it off."

"So, you decided to let me into your troop right?" Sinbad steamrolled over Alibaba. "Thanks a lot."

Alibaba muttered "Uh huh." Mouth still agape, mind still star struck at the confusing man before him.

Aladdin and the others were still to the side of the action. "Mister Ja'far can be a little frightening, can't he?" he remarked.

Masrur nodded. "Sometimes."

Sina snorted at that, a thick glob of congealed blood shot out of his nose. "Ow." New bright blood began trickling down his face in thick streams. Nakht twisted around to face him. "Sina, are you okay?"

"Ow, yeah. I'm fine." Sina tried using his hands to stem the flow, but the sanguine fluid fell over his fingers.

"Are you sure? that's a lot of blood." Aladdin tried moving Sina's hands away but the little purplet squirmed away with a whine.

"Sina?" Sinbad finally turned away from the Fog Troupe, he came over and kneeled in front of the boy. "Let me see." He commanded, pulling his little hands away.

"No, it's fine. It doesn't even hurt." Sina squirmed away, or tried to, Sinbad quickly restrained his wriggling limbs and scooped the boy into his arms and braced him firmly to his hip. "Ja'far." Sinbad commanded.

The light-haired vizier quickly came closer bearing a handkerchief. "Here."

Sinbad took the cloth and pressed it firmly under Sina's nose. His little face scrunched in distaste. "Stop it. I'm fine! You fuss like an old lady."

"Well, you bleed like a stuck pig, so deal with my old lady fussing." Sinbad quipped back readjusting the boy up higher on his hip. "How did your nose start bleeding anyway?"

"I dunno." Sina grimaced. "It happened when we were in the bag."

"Bag? What bag?"

"The Fog troupe man put Nakht and me in a bag."

"WHAT?!"

With that exclamation, Sina just knew it would be a looong night.

 **Next chapter will deal with Alibaba and his family relations, Sinbad internalizing some things about his son, Sina being adorable, and more!**

 **Leave a review! Also if you have any ideas of Omakes I should do, leave a review about those too!**


	23. Chapter 23

**It's been a while, I know! I'm sorry that it's been so long. I started another semester at college, my car decided to die, I got whacked in the face and need oral surgery, I got shifted to part-time, and my boyfriend got laid off so finances have been at an all time low and stress at an all time high.**

 **I set up an etsy account for my art at my friends suggestion for a little extra income, and I'm working on a ebook too. Someone suggested I set up a Pateron or something but I have no idea what that is or how it works.**

 **I'll try to update faster but right now life seems pretty intent on kicking my ass. Hopefully this chapter makes up for my long Hiatus.**

The next morning brought clear crisp sunshine to the city of Balbadd. Clear water lapped at the ports and beaches. Swaths of red declared to the citizens of Balbadd that the Third Prince had returned. That he was the leader of the Fog Troupe and that he would now treat with his brother on the behalf of the citizens.

"Alibaba the Wonder is a prince!?" one woman cried, clutching her babe closer to her breast, face aghast with revelation.

"The third prince has returned!" One man cried from the back of the crowd, tears cutting through the dirt embedded on his face.

"Alibaba the Wonder will save us all!" an elderly woman shouted with joy, raising her wooden cane with fevered happiness.

Crowds of citizens began to gather happily at the castle gate, each face was alight with joy. The third prince, the favorite of the former king, Alibaba has returned!

Cheers rang out through the city. The streets were crowded with overjoyed faces. At the steps of the palace, citizens gathered. The air of the city was uplifted, joyful. It felt like a festival was upon the city.

Colorful swaths of cloth were hoisted and waved gaily in the fresh ocean breeze. Music drifted out from windows. Bottles of secreted away alcohol were opened and generously poured to share with others. The city was already rejoicing their liberation from Ahbmads' tyranny. For surely, their favorite prince; Surely Alibaba the Wonder would save them!

Sina balefully watched the crowds from the hotel window. Sinbad and his friends had moved them to another luxury hotel late last night. The young boy crossed his arms as he watched the people cheering below him.

A rustle of fabric behind him made him twitch. Nakht came up to his shoulder. "What's wrong?" the silverett asked.

Sina refused to answer at first, deflecting the question. "What makes you think anything is wrong?" Sina asked as he kept his face toward the window. His green eyes were trained on the people in the street. He watched idly as a few men were hoisting a banner of colorful fabric over the alley below the window. They were all smiling.

"You're pouting; And you look pissed." Nakht noted, pulling a pillow up on the window seat next to his friend. Sina obligingly scooted over to make room, but he didn't look up at him.

"I don't pout." Sina pouted and twisted his head away from Nakht's metallic gaze.

"Sina. Tell me what you're thinking. Something's bugging you, I can tell." A tan hand reached for Sina's.

Agitatedly, Sina shook his hand away, ignoring the hurt/surprised look Nakht gave him. It was the first time that Sina rejected Nakht in any way. It made Nakht's chest ache, his eyes felt hot.

"I don't know. It's just-it seems too easy for him." Sina mumbled, eyes fixed out the window. He did not notice how Nakht was fighting back tears.

It hurt to have Sina reject him. Sina had never pulled away from him before this. Nakht knew that Sina was a deep thinker. And that he could easily get lost in his own head, but the two of them had clung to each other since the day they had met. It was how they endured Master Fatima's treatment. They survived because of each other. The two of them were all they had.

Nakht had never felt this kind of ache before. It was like an expanding ball trapped in his chest forcing his breath out to make room for it. Pushing his ribs away from his body, squeezing his heart until it just couldn't beat anymore. He struggled to take a breath. His eyes burned with tears, the image of Sina was blurring. With a struggling sniff, Nakht pushed the tears back and focused on the conversation.

"Who are you talking about? Mister Alibaba?" Nakht swallowed against the words, his throat was tight, eyes were still burning, his tongue tasted like copper coins. "He doesn't seem so bad."

"What are you talking about, Alibaba? No. I mean Sinbad." Sina shook his head, still staring out into the street. The men below were cheering now, they had lifted the banner.

"Mister Sinbad is nice though. He seems like a really generous person." Nakht tried to keep his voice even, couldn't Sina tell how hard it is for him to speak?

Sina nodded at Nakht's words, his eyes were distance and hazy as he wondered aloud. "Yeah, he is. But why? Why would he bother helping Balbadd? He's the king of Sindria. And why would he bother being nice to us, or Aladdin and Morgiana? He buys us food, clothes, pays for us to stay in a nice hotel. He even bought us new toys. When's the last time you met an adult that nice?" Sina looked up at Nakht to catch his opinion.

Nakht was quiet for a long moment as he thought of Sina's words. "I don't know."

"He's up to something. I'm not sure what yet, but he's up to something. I don't trust him." Sina turned away from his friend.

Nakht's expression twisted then fell into a agape expression. The tan skinned boy stood up from the pillowed window sill. "Well um, I'm gonna go get some food. Do you want anything?"

"No. No…I'm fine." Sina's voice was soft. His mind traveling far past where Nakht could ever hope to reach.

Nakht stared at his friend from the doorway for a minute in disbelief. His burning eyes drying a bit in confusion. Surely Sina wasn't this stupid. Was he?

Could he really not see it? That he looked exactly like King Sinbad! He had the same hair, the same chin, and nose. Sure, his cheeks were thinner and cheekbones higher set on his face and his ears were smaller, his mouth girlier, but Sina had a remarkable resemblance to the Sindrian king. And Sina really couldn't see that?

Nakht's mouth was agape. Sina was smart. He wasn't particularly clever. But he was smart. Sina was… mature. Like a grownup but not really, he was a bit blunt sometimes, but this level of obtuseness, it just can't be normal! Sina wasn't stupid but Nakht was astounded that he could be this dumb!

Something had to be done about this.

Leaving his solitary friend to his thoughts, Nakht shut the suite door firmly behind him. The young boy wandered into the main room. The three adults were sitting on the suite couches, quietly discussing something.

Whatever they were talking about, the conversation died a quick death at Nakhts' quiet entry.

Masrur silently opened his arms to the boy. It would be easy for Nakht to climb into them. To let the man hold him, comfort him in a way that nobody ever had since his mother. Like what he imagined a father or big brother would be like. Masrur was kind, but he was also big. Nakht felt that he could trust Masrur not to hurt him and to protect him from anyone who would try to hurt him.

Nakht stayed on his feet, ignoring the hurt look that flashed through Masrurs' eyes. Nakht couldn't let Masrur comfort him. He had to do this himself. He needed to be brave. He had to confront a king. A boy against a king. He was trembling but Nakht determinedly looked straight ahead at King Sinbad.

Sinbad furrowed his brow at the little boy. It was the first time Nakht had ever made eye contact with him. The tanned boy had deep copper metallic eyes, like a desert viper staring up at him. Sinbad felt a small chill chase across his shoulders.

"You need to tell him." Nakht demanded flatly.

Ja'far, Sinbad, and Masrur blinked. Sinbad gave the boy an easy charming smile. "Tell who what Nakht? I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

"I'm not stupid and you need to tell him." Nakht brushed Sinbad's charm aside as easily as one would a spiders web.

Ja'far shifted uneasily. They had expected resistance from Sina, not Nakht. The former assassin didn't have an idea of what to expect from the normally obedient little boy. Grey eyes twisted to look at his king for direction. They didn't have a plan for how to deal with Nakht.

Sinbad slowly lost his grin. He had to play this very carefully. If he isolated Nakht then Sina would hate him. He couldn't afford to alienate his son now. Their relationship was too fragile right now. And he couldn't do what Nakht wanted, if he told Sina about being his son there was no guarantee that his son wouldn't lash out or run away. It was too dangerous now for him to risk it. He had to convince Nakht not to tell Sina.

Sinbad shook his head. He was being threatened by a child. What has his life become?

"Nakht, you know Sina pretty well right?" his tone was gentle, soothing the boy's ruffled feathers.

"Yeah. He's my best friend." Nakht said mulishly. He was pouting up at the king. Sinbad fought against the coo wanting to rise up from his chest. Nakhts unhappy pout was just as adorable as Sina's.

"And you know exactly how protective he is of you, right?"

"Yeah." Nakht shifted closer and clambered up onto the couch, keeping a wary eye on Sinbad.

"Well this is your chance to help protect him." Sinbad gestured grandly to Nakht.

Nakht shifted a bit on the couch. Copper eyes shifted quickly to Masrur. The large man blinked at the boy, allowing Nakht to make his own decisions. The silveret turned back to Sinbad. "What do you mean?"

"I want to give you and Sina a home. In Sindria with me, with Ja'far and Masrur too and all of our friends who can't wait to meet you. I want us all to be a family." Sinbad lifted a gentle hand to Nakht's shoulder, looking down at him with soft eyes.

"…A family..." Nakht whispered quietly, reminded of his poor mother, and how desperate she was. How poor and hungry they were, until it drove her to sell her only son to the slave market and then to Master Fatima.

Sinbad smiled like he knew what Nakht was thinking. "Yeah Nakht, a family. But if Sina thinks that the only reason I want you to come with us is because he's my son; Well, it'll hurt him very badly."

"Well isn't that what you want?" Nakht shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

"Yes and no. I do want to take care of my son- of Sina. But I want to take care of you too. And Aladdin and Morgiana as well. But I can't do that without your help."

"My help?"

"I just need you to keep my secret a little longer. Once we are safely on our way to Sindria I will sit Sina down and tell him everything. I owe him that honesty. But I made a promise to help this country too. And as much as I want to tell Sina and explain everything to him. I have to keep my promise to the people of this country. I-I need your help Nakht."

"You-you need me?" It was one of the first times anyone had said they needed him. Sina depended on him but he had never said as much. The fact that Sinbad not only needed him, but would tell him as much, admit to needing his help. It meant the world to him. He felt the hard little ball of pain in his chest shrinking away.

Nakht scooted a bit closer to the king and Sinbad smiled. "Yes, I do. Will you help me save this country and protect Sina?"

Nakht's chest was tight and wobbly. Copper eyes filled with tears. Indecision warred in him. "I don't want to lie to Sina."

"And I'm not asking you to. I just need you to not tell him about who I am. Just a little bit longer, Okay?" Sinbad's golden eyes were wide and sincere.

Nakht sniffled and rubbed a hand over his damp face. "Okay."

With a few more comforting words from Sinbad, Masrur and Nakht were making their way down to the hotel café. Sinbad ignored the meaningful glance Masrur gave him over Nakht's head as they left. He knew he would have to deal with the Fanalis man later. While they were out, Ja'far and Sinbad stayed in the suite to continue talking. The two men waved happily to Nakht as they left.

Immediately after the door slid shut behind them, Sinbad's entire demeanor change. His face darkened into a fierce scowl and his body stiffened unhappily in his seat. Ja'far ignored Sinbad's behavior as he stood and wandered to the bookcase. Silence had never seemed so intrusive than inside this hotel room. The tension between them was agonizing. The purple haired man looked green around his gills. He ran a hand through his tousled hair. Finally, Ja'far peered up at Sinbad from his chosen novel.

"So, you have manipulated a child." Ja'far noted idly. His voice was pointily casual. His tone even and unblamingly. But that just made Sinbad more agitated.

"You think I don't know that? I still feel slimy for doing it." Sinbad groused at his advisor. His hands clenched unhappily in his lap.

"It had to be done, my king." Ja'far placated.

Sinbad stood roughly and shook out his arms like he was trying to shake away his guilt. "That doesn't mean I don't feel guilty doing it."

"You've done worse." Ja'far tried comforting him.

"No. Not like this Ja'far. This wasn't just manipulating a child; Twisting the truth to suit my needs. I've done that countless times before. That part isn't the one that bothers me. This was deceiving the only person in the world my son thinks of as family. My son who-," Sinbads' voice shuddered. Golden eyes slid shut regretfully. "My son hates me Ja'far." The admittance burned in his throat, like blistering sour wine.

"He doesn't hate you," Ja'far murmured, "He just doesn't understand why you care about him so much. He'll understand everything once we get home. You just need to endure until we handle the Balbadd issue; then you'll be able to explain everything to him clearly. It's just for a while, then we'll get back to Sindria. And Sina can be properly raised as your heir."

"What if he doesn't want to be Sindria's first prince? What if he doesn't want to be my son?" a bit of Sinbad's anxiety shown through. He had a son. He also had a kingdom. What would he do if he was forced to choose between them? If he had to choose between what was best for his kingdom…or his son. What would he do? Sinbad wasn't sure, and that terrified him.

He knew that Rashid chose his kingdom over his sons. Allowing his incompetent first born to secede him instead of his youngest, who was an obviously better choice. It was clear that Alibaba cared deeply for Balbadd and it's people while his brother Ahbmad cared only for the prestige the crown provided him. And now because of Rashid's choice, his kingdom is on the brink of collapse because of it. Sinbad felt a bubble of panic rise inside him. What if he was forced into such an impossible choice?

"Then we make those decisions when we come to them. For now, we have to stay focused on Balbadd." Ja'far knew that it was hard to keep Sinbad on track on a normal diplomatic mission. But with the added emotional upheavals of Rashid's illegitimate son and his own discovered prince, keeping Sin focused would be next to impossible. Ja'far felt a tension headache begin to pound behind his temples. "I have made contact with Sindria's official ambassadors. I'm sure you can agree that they will be a smidge more useful than us. They will be here in a few days, a week at most."

"Good. Until then, let's go meet up with Alibaba once Masrur and Nakht return. We don't want to be late for our meeting with Ahbmad." Sinbad returned to sitting on the couch, his scowl lessening only slightly. "I want this mess cleaned up as fast as possible. The sooner we return to Sindria the better. I want my son out of this city."

"Sin?"

"You know this situation is dangerous Ja'far. This can only end in a few ways, and most aren't the best. War, civil war, mass executions, none of these are things I want my son or my country connected to." Sinbad ran a hand through his hair, ruffling the locks. "We need to finish this as quickly and cleanly as possible. It's past time to go home."

"Well-spoken my liege."

 **So there you have it. a brand new chapter!**

 **I'll work on updating faster but honestly, it might be a while. I'm sorry about that.**

 **Please review!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Okay I know it's been awhile. Things have been going on and I'm just gonna say sorry and move on. I recently started selling my craftstuff at local anime conventions. I've been having money troubles so hopefully this will make things easier on me.**

 **Anyway, enjoy this chapter and leave a review before you go.**

It was the next day before Sinbad and the others were brought before Ahbmad. They were looking out from the balcony at the swelling crowd of Balbadd citizens.

"Who knew how many people would show up?" Alibaba looked nervous.

"It proves how high the people's expectations are for you. And how hopeless they feel about the current king. Take their voices and turn them into your own power." Sinbad advised the young prince. He could recall a time when it was he seeking advice and a king gave him words of wisdom.

"Right."

The royal throne room was empty of courtiers as Ahbmad addressed the pair of them. "What exactly is the meaning of all this commotion Sinbad?" The king slouched lazily in his throne, making a comical effort to look bored. But Sinbad could see the tightness of his lips when his eyes passed over Alibaba. Ahbmad knew who stood before him and he was afraid. The king of Balbadd was very afraid indeed.

Sinbad boldly announced, not just to Ahbmad, but to the entire guard battalion in the throne room. He had no idea why Ahbmad would choose to let so many witness this encounter. He probably assumed that by keeping the minor nobility outside he could control the spread of information, the fool. Guards and servants were the worst secret keepers in a royal court, and the best spies.

Sinbad grinned as he noticed a few of the older, higher ranking guards give Alibaba a wide-eyed look, they knew who he was. "I choose not to involve myself in domestic issues. You brothers should talk it out for yourselves." He kept his eyes on the king, but he easily felt the shock of his announcement ripple through the younger guards present the older ones' expressions were interesting as well at the confirmation. The idea that the entire incident was a royal brother spat was shocking. More shocking was the idea that there was another brother to claim the throne.

"After all the butting in you've done? What are you talking about!?" Abhmad childishly whined as he waved his hand about.

Sinbad nodded to Alibaba to take control of the conversation. The blond would be prince stepped forward. "My brother Ahbmad." His verbal confirmation of Sinbads' declaration caused another ripple of shock through the attending guard.

The king looked fearful as he looked at his younger half-brother. The assistant king leaned over and whispered something to him that Sinbad couldn't hear. Whatever it was made Ahbmad look ill. A look that did not flatter his already unfortunate face.

"Ahbmad, I'm sure you know this; but the treasury incident was my fault." Alibaba admitted, shame coloring his face, "You could also say I was the cause of father's death." His voice bordered on cracking with grief. But the blond teen gamely held it together. "That fateful day, I believed I committed a crime that can't ever be erased. But why did the Fog troupe attack that day? and why are the people of this country surrounding the palace right now?"

Alibaba looked up to his kingly brother pleadingly. "Just think about it! your people are suffering to death. And now they need your help!"

The blonde narrowed his eyes and lowered his head supplicating before the king. "My brother Ahbmad, I'm asking you as ruler of this land. Promise me that you will do everything in your power to protect the lives of our people! Do that and I swear to disband the Fog Troupe."

There was a long pause in the royal chamber. Sinbad was impressed at how well Alibaba was keeping it together. The deal he proposed was a good one, Sinbad thought. Ahbmad would only have to agree to uphold his position as king as the protector of the people, and in return Balbadd would be rid of a major crime organization. It was an easy decision. Only a fool would-

"Is that all you have to say?" Ahbmad whined from his throne, looking blank faced. With a clank of his septor, the guards surrounded Alibaba and barred his way to Ahbmad.

Alibaba gripped the staffs blocking his way, looking furious. "What about our promise!?"

"You're out of line. Someone of such lowly origins as you, how dare you speak to the rightful king without permission." Ahbmad dismissively said looking what Sinbad assumed he probably thought looked regal but just ended up making him look constipated. As Ahbmad continued to crush his younger brothers' hopes, Sinbad could only think of two things.

Ahbmad was truly an idiot.

And Balbadd was doomed.

 **Bam! New chapter up! Leave a review before you go!**


End file.
